Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been engaged in a fierce battle for the title of the best player in the world for the best part of a decade now. But, 2017 might finally be the year when a clear Ballon d’Or candidate between the two will finally emerge with Ronaldo showing a slight decline this season, although Messi couldn’t help Barcelona getting knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The Portuguese has scored ‘only’ 22 goals this season compared to Messi’s 30 and has a provided significantly lower number of assists than to his Catalan rival. But then, Ronaldo would rather be the solo artist than a part of an opera. His game was never about the passing, but always about the dribbles, the shots from long range and displays of outrageous skill which led to Real Madrid paying Manchester United a world record sum for his services.
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A graduate of the FC Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy, Messi is highly proficient in the Catalan clubs’ signature possession-heavy style of football that requires excellent passing skills. This is reflected on FIFA 17, where Messi is one of the best passers in the game with passing rating of 88.
An attribute which seems fairly rated when we see the number of assists and key passes the Argentine manages to complete in addition to his goal output and it is fair to say that the Argentine is a significantly better passer of the ball.
While Messi is the best in the world at what he does, he is known better for his dribbling and goal scoring attributes than his passing which remains an underrated facet of his game.
In spite of this, there are better passers in the game than Messi and this is reflected on FIFA 17. We list five players on FIFA 17 who have better passing stats than the Argentine wizard.
#1 Luka Modric – 92 passing rating
The Croatian central midfielder has earned the nickname “Cruyff of the Balkans” after masterful displays at the heart of midfield for club and country over the years. The former Spurs midfielder’s performances always indicated that he was meant for bigger things than North London which finally happened in the summer of 2012 when Real Madrid paid around £30million pounds for his services.
The sum now looks like a bargain paid for a world class operator who can also play as an attacking or defensive midfielder and who is vital for Real Madrid when teams decide to sit back and defend in numbers against the might of Real Madrid. It is often Modric’s vision and passing ability that proves to be the difference in such games and allows the Los Blancos to exert their dominance on lesser rivals.
FIFA 17 have accurately captured the Croatian’s passing ability, giving him a rating of 92 on the game, making him the best passer on FIFA 17, a fact which is likely to please Real Madrid fans who by now are exhausted listening to the praise that Barcelona receive for their passing abilities.
#2 Andres Iniesta – 92 passing rating
No list of the best passers in the world would be complete without the inclusion of El Cerebro (The Brain), Andres Iniesta. A graduate of Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy, he formed a world-beating midfield triumvirate along with Sergio Busquets and Xavi Hernandez which led to a World Cup and the Euros with Spain and multiple La Liga and Champions League titles with Barcelona.
15 years on from his debut for Barcelona, he remains an irreplaceable part of the Catalan club’s midfield with his incisive passing and ball retention skills even after the departure of his partner in crime, Xavi Hernandez. The Spanish maestro’s passing ability is vital to FC Barcelona’s signature style of play which provides space to the individual talents of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez to flourish.
Iniesta is one of the best passers in world football, regularly coming up with pass completion rates in excess of 90%. On FIFA 17, the Spaniard is one of the best passers with a rating of 92, finishing second only to Luka Modric on the basis of the Croatian’s ability to play a few more positions than the Catalan.
#3 Marco Verratti – 90 passing rating
The young Italian midfielder has been described as the closest like to Andres Iniesta in world football. Blessed with immaculate passing and dribbling skills, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder did not need to go to La Masia as he was already endowed with the skills taught there.
Verratti is responsible for dictating the flow of the game for the Paris-based club and has been linked with a transfer to Barcelona as a replacement for Andres Iniesta once the legendary Spaniard retires. In a testament to the Italian’s abilities, Iniesta himself has been quoted saying that he sees Verratti as his successor in the Barcelona midfield.
His passing has fittingly been given a rating of 90 on FIFA 17 and, at just 24 years of age, the PSG man can only get better.
#4 Thiago – 90 passing rating
The second La Masia graduate on the list, Thiago was initially viewed as a successor to Xavi Hernandez, but this highly-rated midfielder moved to Germany during the Pep Guardiola revolution at Bayern Munich. He has gone from strength to strength since and has made himself an irreplaceable part in the dynamic Bayern Munich midfield alongside Xabi Alonso and Arturo Vidal.
Thiago’s inclusion in the Bayern Munich set up signalled the change in the clubs’ philosophy from the counter-attacking strategy employed under Jupp Heynckes to a more possession-heavy approach under Pep Guardiola. The midfielder’s La Masia credentials and passing ability were crucial to this change undertaken by Guardiola, bringing a little bit of Barcelona to Bayern Munich.
The Spaniard, at Bayern Munich, has gone from a promising prospect to a world class footballer capable of holding his own against the heavyweights of the footballing world. His passing is precise and forward-looking in nature and it is rare to see his passes not find the mark. It is for these reasons that Thiago is one of the best passers in FIFA with a passing attribute rating of 90, which is two points higher than that of Lionel Messi.
#5 Francesco Totti – 90 passing rating
Francesco Totti is now 40 years old and he remains as influential a figure at Roma as he was a decade ago. The Italian’s pace and movement may have waned but his footballing brain and passing ability remain sharp as ever; attributes which have seen him drop deeper into an attacking midfielder’s role from the striking duties of his younger days.
One of football’s one-club men, a type of footballer who is becoming increasingly rare in these days of big money transfers, Totti has managed to hold his own at Roma on the basis of skill and leadership and continues to have influential performances for his beloved club.
It would be impossible for a player to play into his 40s at a club with the stature of Roma if he did not have the required ability. Totti’s passing and other attributes remain as good or better than what they were in his younger days with his passing attribute seeing serious development with age.
He is now one of the best passers in the game, with EA giving him a rating of 90 when it comes to his passing, making him better than Lionel Messi who is a spring chicken at the age of 29.
