Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne is now just one behind Lionel Messi’s tally for the most assists in Europe’s top five leagues over the past ten years.
His recent performance in midweek took him over the 200 mark in all competitions within the last decade.
The Belgian was on hand four times to set up teammate Erling Haaland in Manchester City’s 6-2 thrashing of Luton Town in the FA Cup on Tuesday.
De Bruyne has assisted 16 of Haaland’s 79 goals for City so far. And the Norwegian striker was quick to praise the service he has received.
Haaland told ITV: “Kevin de Bruyne is massive. He is doing what he is best at. It’s a pleasure playing with him,”
“We know what we both want from each other. It clicks well. He is a smart player and I like to play with him.”
Messi Still Has The Most Assists In Europe’s Top Five Leagues
But while De Bruyne is now only the second player to hit 200 assists in Europe’s top five leagues over the past decade, he’s still behind Lionel Messi.
The Argentine superstar managed 203 assists in all competitions for Barcelona and PSG in that time.
De Bruyne’s 202 have come in 17 fewer games, however. And with Messi now playing in the MLS for Inter Miami, it seems likely De Bruyne will overtake him very soon.
Winning the Ballon d’Or a record eight times, Messi had an incredible 303 total assists for Barcelona, with a further 35 during his spell with PSG in Ligue 1.
He’s scored 722 career club goals and counting, including 129 in the Champions League.
But at a rate of 0.44 assists per game in the past decade, he has been less creative than De Bruyne per 90 minutes. In the same period, the Belgian has averaged 0.46 assists per match.
Top Ten Most Assists In Europe’s Major Leagues
After Messi and De Bruyne, there is a sharp drop off to the player with the third most assists in Europe during the same period.
Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller has 183 assists for the Bundesliga giants in the last ten years. His career tally for Bayern stands at 264, with 237 goals.
Fourth is Angel Di Maria, who returned to former club Benfica last summer. The Argentine has 155 assists for his various clubs in the past decade, which include Real Madrid, Manchester United, PSG and Juventus.
He is followed by former PSG teammate Neymar. The Brazilian has 141 assists in ten years, averaging 0.42 per appearance.
Sixth place, ten assists behind Neymar, is Luis Suarez. The third member of Barcelona’s iconic MSN front three, the Uruguayan linked up with Messi and Neymar to deadly effect.
His 131 assists in the last ten years include all six seasons he spent at Barca after leaving Liverpool in July 2014. Whilst at Camp Nou, he bagged 113 assists in 283 games, on top of his 195 goals.
He then joined Atletico Madrid, adding a further 34 goals and six assists.
The only Englishman on the list, Raheem Sterling has 123 assists in 483 games during the past decade. The Chelsea winger spent most of his career at Manchester City, providing 95 assists after leaving Liverpool as a youngster.
Sterling is just ahead of Kylian Mbappe at the time of writing, with the Frenchman on 121 assists. Mbappe has played 131 fewer games in that time, however.
Ninth place is Liverpool’s Egyptian king, Mohamed Salah. Eighty nine of his 119 assists have been for the Reds, though he has also picked up a handful for each of the other clubs he’s played for since 2013/14.
Salah joined Liverpool in 2017, having previously played for FC Basel and Chelsea, then Fiorentina and AS Roma in Serie A.
Last but not least is former West Ham maestro, Dimitri Payet. The 36-year-old Frenchman is tenth on the list of most assists in Europe’s top leagues in the last ten years.
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