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Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been entertaining football fans with their amazing talents for a long time. These amazing superstars have been at a superior level for the past few years. They have created an amazing duopoly on top of the football world, with their dominant displays in every campaign.
Despite their level of superiority, some players have upset the odds this season with impressive performances. They have moved closer to the 2 great superstars with their incredible brilliance in the campaign. Due to their tremendous efforts, they deserve to be compared with the Real Madrid and Barcelona magicians.
Therefore, let us quickly look at these 5 superstars that attained such fantastic level this season:
#5. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
Harry Kane beat Lionel Messi to become top scorer of the 2017 calendar year, scoring an impressive 56 goals in all competitions. Since then, the attacker has taken his game forward, scoring consistently and breaking many records.
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The 24-year old is one of the best attackers in Europe this season, with a lot of eye-catching performances for the North London club. He led the Spurs to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League and also helped in securing their spot in the top-4 zone of the Premier League.
Like Messi and Ronaldo, he is the main man at his club and he carries the goalscoring burden. After going 2 goals down against Juventus in the first leg of their Champions League clash, the striker put in a great effort and pulled one back before Cristian Eriksen scored another to secure a vital draw in Italy. He also inspired his team as they defeated Real Madrid 3-1 at the Wembley stadium earlier this season.
Kane is one of the most prolific forwards on the continent this term. He has bagged an impressive 26 goals and 2 assists in the English Premier League. He also has 7 goals and 2 assists to his name in the UEFA Champions League. This means that he has scored more goals than Ronaldo (24) in the domestic league this season, and also has more goals than Messi (6) in the European tournament.
All stats via whoscored.com
#4 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are highly regarded because they lead their respective teams to glory. Kevin De Bruyne has reached a similar level of impact this season, leading Manchester City to claim the Premier League title with a lot of incredible performances.
The efforts of the Belgian in City's rise is massive. In fact, he is simply the best player in Pep Guardiola's squad. De Bruyne played a pivotal role in The Cityzens' title triumph this season. Though a midfielder, the 26-year-old saw the back of the net on 8 different occasions in the English top flight. He is also the most creative player in Europe's top-5 leagues, with an incredible 15 assists to his name.
The playmaker was impressive in the UEFA Champions League as well. He scored once and set up a further 4 to lead his club to the quarter-finals of the European tournament. His 2 goals and 3 assists were also instrumental as Manchester City claimed the Carling Cup in February.
He has already won two trophies for his club, whereas Ronaldo is yet to win any and Messi has won just one for Barcelona. He also has more assists than the duo in both their domestic leagues and in the Champions League. Besides, he has also reached a similar level of consistency, inspiring The Cityzens since the beginning of the season till this moment.
#3. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Polish striker, Robert Lewandowski has been one of the most consistent performers in Europe for the past few years. In fact, he has come close to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's level on a number of occasions in his career.
This season, the Bayern Munich superstar has been at an amazing level. He has led the German champions to another consecutive Bundesliga title, scoring 28 goals in 28 appearances. He also put the club in the final of the DFB Pokal with 5 goals to his name.
In the UEFA Champions League, the attacker scored 5 times, helping The Bavarians to make it to the semi-finals of the European tournament. This means that the striker has scored more goals than Ronaldo (24) and is very close to Lionel Messi (29) in the domestic league this campaign. He has also claimed the Bundesliga for his club while Ronaldo is yet to win any trophy this season.
The striker truly deserves to be compared with the duo, due to the kind of impact he has had on his team so far
#2. Neymar Jr. (Paris Saint Germain)
Neymar Junior has been right behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the past few years. The Brazilian is highly regarded as the man to take the baton from these football wizards anytime they step aside in the future. In fact, the attacker shared the Ballon d'Or stage with these superstars in both 2015 and 2017.
He has maintained his impressive level of performance even in this season. The Brazilian left FC Barcelona in the summer to complete a world record transfer to Paris Saint Germain.
At his new club, he linked up with Uruguayan striker, Edinson Cavani and French prodigy, Kylian Mbappe. Together, these amazing players formed a fearsome attacking trio that took Europe by storm with their fantastic goalscoring exploits.
Neymar has been a great leader in his new club and he has proved that with his brilliant displays in the campaign.The Brazilian led his club to reclaim the Ligue 1 title this season, bagging 19 goals and 13 assists in the French division. He also inspired the club as they won the Coupe de la Ligue in March as well as leading the Parisians to the final of the Coupe de France.
Neymar is one of the stand-out players in the UEFA Champions League this season, with 6 goals and 3 assists to his name. He led the club to the knockout stages of the tournament before suffering a serious injury that forced him out of the competition.
Despite that, Neymar has the same number of goals as Lionel Messi (6) in the Champions League. His 3 assists are also equal to Ronaldo's (3) and superior to that of the Argentine (2) in the European tournament this season. He has more assists than Cristiano (5) in the domestic league and has also won the Ligue 1 while the Portuguese is yet to win any trophy this season.
Like Messi and Ronaldo, Neymar is the leader of his team and he has been carrying the responsibilities of taking them forward, especially in the big games. The Brazilian showed his class when he inspired the Parisians to defeat Bayern Munich earlier this season, scoring one and assisting another as they cruised to a 3-0 victory at the Allianz Arena.
#1. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool FC)
Mohamed Salah has taken the world by storm this season, with his supernatural talent and an incredible level of superiority. At the moment, the question is not whether Salah is in Messi and Ronaldo's level. Rather, it is whether he has surpassed them or not.
The Egyptian has been a tremendous revelation ever since he completed his transfer from Roma to Liverpool in the summer. He has established himself as one of the finest players in the world right now. In fact, the attacker has been shaking the dominance of the aforementioned duo and if he maintains his unbelievable level of performance, he will surely dethrone these superstars and become the best player in the world.
He is currently leading the race for the European Golden shoe with an impressive 31 goals in the Premier League. He also has 9 assists to his name in the English top flight, helping Liverpool to maintain their stand in the top-4 race despite the level of competition involved this season.
Besides, Salah has also been one of the most impressive performers in the UEFA Champions League this season. He has 10 goals and 4 assists to his name in the European tournament. He has also led the club to the semi-finals of the Champions League after 10 years of missing out.
The winger has scored more goals than both Lionel Messi (29) and Cristiano Ronaldo (24) in their domestic leagues this season. He also has more assists than the Portuguese (5) in the same competition. In the UEFA Champions League, the attacker bagged more goals than Leo (6) and has been more creative than the duo with his 4 assists superior to those of his 2 rivals.
Salah has also put his club in great position to qualify for the Champions League final, after bagging 2 goals and 2 assists as Liverpool defeated Roma 5-2 at the Anfield stadium on Tuesday. The Egyptian definitely deserves to be compared with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo because of his performances, consistency, and level of impacts this season.
