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#3 Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema's arrival at Real Madrid was tucked to the side due to the signings of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka. However, he is the only one who is still at the club and continues to perform at elite levels.
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He has spent his entire Real Madrid career in the shadows of players like Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and now Eden Hazard. Kaka left and so did Ronaldo. James Rodriguez is set to be offloaded and the less said about the Gareth Bale situation, the better.
But Benzema has outlasted all of them and continues to lead the line for the Blancos. He was excellent this year again regaining the composure and level-headedness in front of goal that was such a feature of his game when he used to race with Lionel Messi for the La Liga Golden Boot.
Benzema has 248 goals from 512 games and is the 5th highest goalscorer of all time for Real Madrid. However, there are still legions of fans who call for him to be axed from the side.
It probably has a lot to do with his immediate neighbourhood. Benzema's accomplishments were often dwarfed by the otherworldly exploits of Cristiano Ronaldo and even Gareth Bale on occasion. He perhaps did not become the star that Real Madrid fans want every signing to become but he's become a tested warrior.
Eitherway, the Frenchman deserves to be named as one of the best no.9s of our times.
#2 Neymar
Neymar has been slated for a variety of reasons. His attitude has come under the scanner a lot and the fact that he chose to move to PSG from Barcelona to break out of Messi's shadow did not gain him a lot of fans.
His recent rebellion at Paris Saint-Germain in a bid to force a return to Barcelona has now seen him fall out of favour with a section of the Ligue 1 champions' supporters. His salary and extravagant lifestyle are all used to poke fun at him.
But the Brazilian has not let any of these distractions take anything away from his game. His latest performance against Atalanta was gamechanging. But it was his teammate Kylian Mbappe who came on as a substitute and stole the limelight.
But Neymar showed elite mentality throughout, never giving up and going at the Atalanta defenders every chance he got. He completed 16 dribbles in the game. Neymar looks like a world beater every single time he comes out to play.
Neymar is measured on a different scale altogether. He is a player who is supposed to be winning the Ballon d'Or. So every little misstep is counted as a failure. He deserves a lot more respect than he is getting. His numbers continue to be spectacular.
#1 Thomas Muller
Yet another player who has missed out on a lot of fanfare because he is perhaps not as flashy as the ones who have really stood out. But Thomas Muller has been one of the greatest players of his generation and his contribution to Bayern Munich and Germany.
Even at the beginning of this season, Niko Kovac had looked at him more as a sub than a regular. However, he came back following Kovac's sacking and proved to the world why he is one of the most intelligent footballers on the planet. Muller provided a record 21 assists in the Bundesliga this season.
Thomas Muller has won the World Cup and has 9 Bundesliga titles and a UEFA Champions League title to his name. He reads the game better than almost everyone around and has made a habit out of producing goals for his side by popping up at the right place at the right time.
The German is one of the best attackers of the 21st century but hardly ever gets the credit he really deserves.
