WhoScored 2020 Rewind: Did anyone dethrone Messi as the best winger in Europe?

 

Into the final three positions of our countdown of the best players in Europe in 2020 and this is where it starts to hot up for most people, where the best players in the world generally start to come into play.

 

Before we move on to the strikers, it's time to address the best right wingers in Europe's top five leagues from the last calendar year. Remember, you will have the chance to vote on the best one!

 

 

4) Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo) - 7.39 rating

 

Some of you may not be familiar with Domenico Berardi but it now seems only a matter of time before he finally makes the next step to a big club. It was supposed to happen earlier in his career but after a few seasons of drifting we have finally seen the best of Berardi over the past 12 months. Berardi played a direct hand in 24 goals in 31 league appearances for the Italian outfit. The 26-year-old created 64 goalscoring chances in the league in 2020, with 51 of those, or 79.7%, coming from open play.

 

3) Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) - 7.49 rating

 

Mohamed Salah finished 2020 as the top scoring Premier League player with 23 goals and when factoring in assists only four players in Europe's top five leagues managed a direct hand in more goals than the Liverpool star (32). Indeed, only Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi recorded more shots on target (58) than Salah in Europe's top five leagues last year.

 

2) Angel Di Maria (PSG) - 7.50 rating

 

Written off after a failed stint at Manchester United, Angel Di Maria has genuinely been in remarkable form for Paris Saint-Germain over the last 12 months or so. Despite playing far fewer games than most due to Ligue 1 being curtailed early last year, only Leo Messi (31 in 34 apps) and Kevin De Bruyne (26 in 29 apps) created more clear-cut scoring chances than Di Maria (25 in 21 apps) in Europe's top five leagues. Di Maria finished 2020 with 16 goals in 21 league appearances and was arguably PSG's most consister performer given the injury woes of both Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. 

 

WhoScored 2020 Rewind: Did anyone dethrone Messi as the best winger in Europe?

 

1) Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 8.54 rating

 

Lionel Messi may not have been in his usual otherworldly form in 2020 but the Barcelona superstar was still one of the best in the world. In fact, only two players were directly involved in more goals than Messi (35 goals in 34 appearances) in Europe's top five leagues last season. Messi claimed both double the amount of WhoScored Man of the Match awards (20) and perfect WhoScored 10 ratings (6) as any other player, while ranking top for both accurate through balls (15) and passes per game in the opposition half (46.3). Moreover, only one player registered more assists than Messi (16). 

 

Players of the Year: GKs, RBs, LBs, CBs, CMs, AMs

WhoScored 2020 Rewind: Did anyone dethrone Messi as the best winger in Europe?