5 best playmakers in the 21st century

#3 Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane of Real Madrid and Michael Ballack of Bayer Leverkusen

Zinedine Zidane is widely regarded as one of the best playmakers to ever grace the pitch. He dominated world football in the late 90s and early years of the 21st century. The Frenchman left an incredible legacy and his impact on his club and country was unfathomable.

Zidane was extremely unpredictable on the pitch as he could do anything with his terrific skill-set. As a playmaker, the midfielder was able to pick out passes that were hard to read and also had the tactical intelligence to read the game. He possessed incredible technique, which was evident in his volley against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 Champions League final.

Zidane won the World Cup for France in 1998, scoring a brace in the finale. He also won the Ballon d'Or that year.

He continued to perform at the highest level, which led Real Madrid to sign him for a then world-record fee of €77.5 million in 2001. The French playmaker's elegance, poise and grace remain unmatchable till date.

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#2 Xavi Hernandez

Barcelona Victory Parade

It is impossible to compile a list of playmakers and miss out on Xavi. Like Iniesta and Messi, Xavi was also a La Masia graduate. He was the chief orchestrator and executor of the tiki-taka style of football on the pitch. He was the brains of Barcelona and Spain during his tenure, remaining one of the greatest playmakers in football history.

Playmakers often combine vision, precision, tactical intelligence and technical ability - Xavi had all that. The Spanish playmaker dictated the tempo of the game and often signified his team's movements on the pitch. Blessed with pinpoint accuracy, he could find his teammates anywhere and was always thinking multiple steps away from his opposition.

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#1 Lionel Messi

FC Barcelona v RC Celta - La Liga Santander

Lionel Messi is not only regarded as one of the all-time greats but also as one of the most complete forwards to play the game. Breaking through Barcelona's famed La Masia academy, Messi played over 770 games for Blaugrana and remains their greatest goalscorer ever.

In addition to scoring 672 goals for the Catalan giants, Messi also racked up a whopping 301 assists. He has the ability to get out of the trickiest of situations with utter ease, which helped create spaces for his teammates. The Argentine genius also possesses supreme vision to see the runs of forwards and provide them with venomous passes.

Messi started operating as a playmaker especially after the departure of Xavi and Iniesta. Barcelona needed someone who could create chances and Messi was happy to comply. He has a penchant for dropping deep to collect the ball and switching into a playmaker role to help his teams.

Following his contract expiry in the summer, Messi's services were secured by Ligue 1 giants PSG.