Stats Prove Messi Is The Smartest And Most Generous Player In Europe

King of the Pass.

Lionel Messi is leading the race to win Europe’s Golden Shoe for a record sixth time with the most goals in the continent so far this season, and the Barcelona forward is also the best passer in the top five leagues.

He currently has 29 goals, second only to Nõmme Kalju’s Liliu on 31. However, with the toughness of league factored in, Messi is ahead of Kylian Mbappé by six points, or three goals.

And that’s not all, since Messi’s talent isn’t just in goalscoring; his passing is out of this world, as well.

The stats prove that only Neymar is close to him in Europe’s top five leagues for progressive and threatening passes with nearly 6.5 through passes and nearly 10 passes to the penalty area per 90 minutes:

Messi is also by far the best in Europe when it comes to “smart passes”:

A “smart pass” is defined as “more than a simple pass, not so easy to be done. There has to be some idea in the pass, something creative, when the player is cutting the lines and winning some advantage for his teammates with this pass, leading them in good position to attack. The pass should be between 2–3 opposite players.”

So: Messi is objectively the smartest and most creative.

Sorry, CR7.