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We are rapidly approaching the home run on the 2018/2019 European football season as we enter the final two months of the campaign.
It has been a wholesome and unfilled season till this point, with a number of clubs still chasing down various objectives while others have fallen off the pace.
One of the major factors that has seen clubs still in the hunt for trophies or otherwise has been goals, as teams that tend to score a lot of it generally win matches (even though shutting them out at the other end is mightily important).
It is for this reason that regular goalscorers are in high demand, with quality center-forwards being the most sought-after players in football.
While strikers might get all the accolades and reward for putting the ball in the back of the net, not much attention is usually given to the players who make the goals possible, as more often than not, teammates usually lay on a decisive pass for the strikers to score.
It is in a bid to arrest this trend that the inaugural 'Playmaker award' was introduced last year to reward the player with the most assists in a Premier League season and in this light, we shall be taking a look at the top five assist providers in the current European season.
#5 Christian Eriksen (Tottenham), Ryan Fraser (AFC Bournemouth), Angel Di Maria (PSG), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich) - 10 Assists
We kick off the list with a four-way tie for the 5th spot, as four men have all provided ten assists each in Europe's top five leagues this season.
Tottenham's Christian Eriksen is undoubtedly the pick of the bunch, as he continues to perform at an elite level to lead Tottenham's quest for a top-four finish.
The 27-year-old has provided 10 assists from 28 Premier League matches, the last of which came in the 2-1 defeat to Liverpool in the last game week of March. He would be looking to build on the 10 assists he made last season as well as the career-high 15 he got during the 2016/2017 campaign.
For his part, Angel Di Maria has also weighed in strongly with 10 assists from 25 Ligue 1 matches to help PSG continue their stroll to the French League title.
The former Manchester United flop had his last assist in the 3-1 victory over Marseille in the middle of last month and has been ruled out through injury since then.
Ryan Fraser played one of the most prominent roles in Bournemouth's spectacular start to the campaign, weighing in with eight assists from his first 18 matches. He has however suffered a slump along with his club, contributing just two assists in the14 matches since then.
The Scottish international's last assist came on March 9th when he scored a goal and created one for Callum Wilson to sink Huddersfield to a 2-0 defeat.
Completing the quartet is German international Joshua Kimmich who has been one of the standout right-backs in Europe this season.
The 24-year-old has weighed in with 10 assists from 27 Bundesliga matches, the last of which came in the 5-1 away win over Borussia Monchengladbach at the start of March.
#4 Eden Hazard (Chelsea) - 11 assists
Eden Hazard has been one of the standout players of the last five years, in essence being the 'best of the rest' behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Belgian international has won many admirers due to his explosive array of tricks and creativity, while his productivity in front of goal has brought him in for constant criticism.
Having starred in captaining his country to third place at the last World Cup which saw him deservedly included in the FIFPro XI for the first time ever, Hazard began this campaign like a house on fire.
The 28-year-old scored seven goals and provided four assists from his first ten matches to grab headlines worldwide and led many to identify him as an early Ballon d'Or frontrunner.
His output has however dropped in recent months which has concordantly had an effect on Chelsea's overall performance.
In total, Hazard has created 11 assists from 30 Premier League matches for his teammates to score the last of which came in the 2-1 away win over Fulham at the start of March.
#3 Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen) - 11 assists
Julian Brandt is currently one of the highest rated youngsters in Germany, having progressed through the ranks for his country's youth teams en route making 22 appearances for the senior side.
Since making his senior debut for Bayer Leverkusen in 2014, the 22-year-old has grown from strength to strength and currently finds himself as an invaluable member of Peter Bosz's side despite his relatively young age.
His attacking output has exponentially been increased since being converted to a central role by Peter Bosz at the midway point of this season, scoring three goals and creating nine assists since the turn of the year.
Julian Brandt's incredible performances saw him named Bundesliga Player of the Month in February (first Leverkusen player to win this accolade), while he also incredibly made three assists in the 3-2 away win over Hannover on the 10th of March.
#2 Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 12 assists
In the eyes and opinions of many, the greatest of all time.
Whether you love or hate him, you cannot deny the greatness that exudes from Lionel Messi anytime he steps on the field and this has been evident from the day he made his debut as a 16-year-old some 15 years ago.
The Argentine icon continues to perform at an incredibly octane level despite turning 32 in a few months and is still the driving force behind Barcelona's quest for a third treble this season.
With 12 assists from 27 league matches, Messi leads the assists chart in La Liga, while his 31 goals also place him as the most lethal marksman in front of goal.
The last of Messi's assists came in the 3-1 away victory over Rayo Vallecano and with Messi in this form, there could be no stopping Barcelona on all three fronts.
#1 Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund) - 13 assists
There's a saying that 'to discover new Oceans, man must first have the courage to leave the shores' and this maxim best applies in the life of Jadon Sancho, perhaps more than anyone else.
At the tender age of 17 and fearing for his first-team prospects at Manchester City, a young Jadon Sancho took the extremely courageous step of transferring overseas to Borussia Dortmund to seek regular playing time.
This was a move that went against everything associated with English footballers, as rarely do they leave the comforts of the Premier League much less at such a young age.
It has however proved to be a masterstroke by the 18-year-old, as he has become a mainstay in the BVB team under Lucien Favre, establishing himself as an English international and one of the highest rated young players on the planet.
So far this campaign, Sancho has starred with eight goals and 13 assists from 27 Bundesliga matches; the last of which came during the last game week as he provided the pass for Paco Alcacer to score in dramatic last-minute circumstances and send Dortmund back on top of the German top flight.
