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What’s the story?
The top dribblers in Europe have been ranked featuring the likes of Lionel Messi, Eden Hazard and Jadon Sancho, but Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t even make the top 30.
In case you didn’t know…
Dribbling has become an important aspect of the game, as it is one of the best ways players create chances for their teams. Many rate Ronaldinho as the greatest dribbler the game has ever seen, but fans of Ronaldo and Messi have also often been involved in this debate.
However, due to technology, data can now be collated to determine which players are the best when it comes to dribbling.
In the past one year, the CIES Football Observatory has been compiling data provided by Opta to rank the best dribblers in Europe’s top five leagues. The criterion is according to the number of domestic league minutes played per successful dribble.
The players considered are those who have played at least 1,800 minutes for their clubs in the last 365 days.
The heart of the matter
The ranking, according to the BBC, sees Lionel Messi top with a successful dribble every 19.2 minutes. The Argentine is closely followed by Nice's Allan Saint-Maximin with a dribble every 19.8 minutes.
Chelsea’s Eden Hazard (21) comes in third-place, while Naim Sliti (21.4) and Ousmane Dembele (21.7) make the top five.
Jadon Sancho (24.1), Marcus Thuram (24.2), Jeff Reine-Adelaide (24.7), Wilfred Zaha (25.6) and Angel Correa (27.1) complete the top 10 in that order.
Other notable footballers are Paulo Dybala (29.9) who came in 13th position, Philippe Coutinho (31.7) was ranked 16th and Kylian Mbappe ranked the 29th best dribbler in Europe.
One of the biggest talking points, though, is Cristiano Ronaldo, who is conspicuously missing from the list. The Portuguese doesn’t even make the top 30.
What’s next?
Lionel Messi may be leading but it is obvious that the younger crop is fast catching up with the Argentine in terms on dribbles and it is only a matter of time before he is overtaken by either Hazard or Sancho, maybe in the coming years.
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