Over the course of football history, we have witnessed the mesmerizing performance of many attacking trios. Brazil’s magical trio of Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho or Manchester United's 'Holy Trinity' comprising of George Best, Bobby Charlton, and Dennis Law comes to mind when we think of trios that made an everlasting impact. However, all the previous trios which dominated the game are now made to look average or above average after Real Madrid and Barcelona put together two of the finest attacking trios the game has seen. We are lucky enough to witness two of the greatest players of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, battle each other while playing for two of the biggest rivals in the game, but the battle didn’t cease there as we now have the battle of MSN (Messi, Suare & Neymar) and BBC (Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo).
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Back in 2009, when Real Madrid signed Cristiano Ronaldo, they also signed a promising French striker named Karim Benzema in the same transfer window. Although he was not a renowned face then, he is easily one of the best strikers right now. Four years later, in 2013, they broke the transfer record once again to sign Gareth Bale. With the acquisition of Bale, they had a fearsome trio consisting of three European superstars.
As for Barcelona, they always had world class players supporting Lionel Messi. Players like Samuel Eto’o, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Alexis Sanchez, David Villa and Pedro Rodriguez were the notable names who played alongside the Argentine. However, his support cast changed to the main cast after the arrival of two South American superstars. Neymar Jr was the first to join in 2013 and a year later, Luis Suarez joined the Catalans to complete the trio.
Since the start of the 2014/15 season, both trios have outplayed and demolished almost every single defence they have faced, including each other’s and have also led their respective teams to several titles. This obviously has led to comparisons between the two trios and here we compare the statistics that have made these trios so fearsome. We start with a breakdown of the individual statistics of the players in each trio followed by comparisons between the MSN and BBC based on several parameters.
Note: To make the comparison fair, the statistics from 2014/15 season onwards have been taken into consideration.
MSN Individual breakdown
Barcelona’s fearsome trio consists of three superstars from South America. Lionel Messi of Argentina, Luis Suarez of Uruguay and Neymar Jr of Brazil. Despite the well-documented rivalry between these South American countries, the trio has blossomed at Barcelona. The incredible chemistry between the players and the selfless nature which they've shown have won them many admirers from across the globe. At the end of their first season together, they won the treble and there has been no looking back after that. A quick look at the individual statistics of these players suggests that they are getting better with each passing game.
Lionel Messi
| Competition ↓ | Season→ | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | Total |
| League | Games | 38 | 33 | 21 | 92 |
| Goals | 43 | 26 | 23 | 92 | |
| Assists | 18 | 16 | 7 | 31 | |
| Copa del Rey | Games | 6 | 5 | 6 | 17 |
| Goals | 5 | 5 | 4 | 14 | |
| Assists | 4 | 6 | - | 10 | |
| Champions League | Games | 13 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
| Goals | 10 | 6 | 11 | 27 | |
| Assists | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |
| Others | Games | - | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Goals | - | 4 | 1 | 5 | |
| Assists | - | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| Total | Games | 57 | 49 | 36 | 142 |
| Goals | 58 | 41 | 49 | 148 | |
| Assists | 26 | 23 | 11 | 60 |
Others include matches played in Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and Club World Cup
Luis Suarez
| Competition ↓ | Season→ | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | Total |
| League | Games | 27 | 35 | 23 | 85 |
| Goals | 16 | 40 | 20 | 76 | |
| Assists | 14 | 16 | 9 | 39 | |
| Copa del Rey | Games | 6 | 4 | 6 | 16 |
| Goals | 2 | 5 | 4 | 11 | |
| Assists | 4 | 1 | - | 5 | |
| Champions League | Games | 10 | 9 | 7 | 26 |
| Goals | 7 | 8 | 3 | 18 | |
| Assists | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | |
| Others | Games | - | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Goals | - | 6 | 1 | 7 | |
| Assists | - | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Total | Games | 43 | 53 | 37 | 133 |
| Goals | 25 | 59 | 28 | 112 | |
| Assists | 21 | 22 | 11 | 54 |
Others include matches played in Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and Club World Cup
Neymar Jr
| Competition ↓ | Season→ | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | Total |
| League | Games | 33 | 34 | 22 | 89 |
| Goals | 22 | 24 | 8 | 54 | |
| Assists | 7 | 12 | 8 | 27 | |
| Copa del Rey | Games | 6 | 5 | 5 | 16 |
| Goals | 7 | 4 | 2 | 13 | |
| Assists | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Champions League | Games | 12 | 9 | 7 | 28 |
| Goals | 10 | 3 | 4 | 17 | |
| Assists | 0 | 4 | 8 | 12 | |
| Others | Games | - | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Goals | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Assists | - | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Total | Games | 51 | 49 | 34 | 134 |
| Goals | 39 | 31 | 14 | 74 | |
| Assists | 7 | 20 | 16 | 43 |
Others include matches played in Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and Club World Cup
BBC Individual breakdown
Real Madrid’s trio of Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo has been around longer than MSN. The trio’s first season together was back in 2013/14 and they ended the season by lifting the UEFA Champions League and the Copa del Rey. However, the trio couldn’t replicate their feats in the following season as Barcelona won the treble again. The main problem for Real Madrid has been the fitness of their players, especially Bale and Benzema. If you look at the games played by Benzema and Bale and compare it to the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Suarez and Neymar, you can see that there is a big gap. In addition, there is a huge gulf in the number of goals scored by Ronaldo and the goals scored by Bale and Benzema. In fact, in the last two seasons, Ronaldo has scored more goals than Bale and Benzema combined.
Gareth Bale
| Competition ↓ | Season→ | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | Total |
| League | Games | 31 | 23 | 13 | 67 |
| Goals | 13 | 19 | 7 | 39 | |
| Assists | 9 | 10 | 2 | 21 | |
| Copa del Rey | Games | 0 | 0 | - | 0 |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | |
| Assists | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | |
| Champions League | Games | 10 | 8 | 6 | 24 |
| Goals | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |
| Assists | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| Others | Games | 5 | - | 0 | 5 |
| Goals | 2 | - | 0 | 2 | |
| Assists | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | Games | 46 | 31 | 19 | 96 |
| Goals | 17 | 19 | 9 | 45 | |
| Assists | 10 | 12 | 3 | 25 |
Others include matches played in Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and Club World Cup
Karim Benzema
| Competition ↓ | Season→ | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | Total |
| League | Games | 29 | 27 | 16 | 72 |
| Goals | 15 | 24 | 7 | 36 | |
| Assists | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 | |
| Copa del Rey | Games | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Assists | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Champions League | Games | 9 | 9 | 7 | 25 |
| Goals | 6 | 4 | 5 | 15 | |
| Assists | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Others | Games | 5 | - | 1 | 6 |
| Goals | 1 | - | 0 | 1 | |
| Assists | 1 | - | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | Games | 43 | 36 | 24 | 103 |
| Goals | 22 | 28 | 13 | 63 | |
| Assists | 12 | 7 | 7 | 26 |
Others include matches played in Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and Club World Cup
Cristiano Ronaldo
| Competition ↓ | Season→ | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | Total |
| League | Games | 35 | 36 | 20 | 91 |
| Goals | 48 | 35 | 18 | 101 | |
| Assists | 16 | 11 | 3 | 29 | |
| Copa del Rey | Games | 0 | - | 2 | 2 |
| Goals | 0 | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Assists | 0 | - | - | 0 | |
| Champions League | Games | 12 | 12 | 8 | 32 |
| Goals | 10 | 16 | 2 | 28 | |
| Assists | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 | |
| Others | Games | 5 | - | 0 | 5 |
| Goals | 2 | - | 0 | 2 | |
| Assists | 2 | - | 0 | 2 | |
| Total | Games | 52 | 48 | 30 | 130 |
| Goals | 60 | 51 | 21 | 132 | |
| Assists | 21 | 15 | 8 | 44 |
Others include matches played in Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and Club World Cup
MSN vs BBC: Head to Head
The best way to compare two attacking trios is by analysing their involvement in goals. It is fairly obvious that Barcelona’s trio is statistically superior to Real Madrid's irrespective of the criteria chosen. In fact, if it wasn’t for the goalscoring feat of Ronaldo, BBC would have been further behind MSN in this list.
| Trio ↓ | Season → | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | Total |
| MSN | Games | 151 | 151 | 107 | 409 |
| Goals | 122 | 131 | 91 | 344 | |
| Assists | 54 | 65 | 38 | 157 | |
| GPG | 0.81 | 0.87 | 0.85 | 0.816 | |
| APG | 0.36 | 0.43 | 0.35 | 0.37 | |
| GIPG | 1.17 | 1.30 | 1.20 | 1.22 | |
| BBC | Games | 141 | 115 | 73 | 329 |
| Goals | 99 | 98 | 43 | 240 | |
| Assists | 43 | 34 | 18 | 95 | |
| GPG | 0.70 | 0.85 | 0.58 | 0.704 | |
| APG | 0.31 | 0.35 | 0.24 | 0.30 | |
| GIPG | 1.01 | 1.20 | 0.83 | 1.01 |
Games* – Sum total of games played by the three players
GPG – Goals per game
APG – Assists per game
GIPG – Goal involvement per game (Goals+Assists/Total number of games)
MSN vs BBC: Trophies won
Although BBC have played together for a season more than MSN, it is only fair to compare the trophies won by these trios when they were both in existence. For this reason, the trophies won by BBC in 2013/14 has not been included. However, even if they are included, MSN would still have one trophy more than BBC as Real Madrid’s tally will only reach 6.
| MSN | BBC | |
| 2014/15 | La Liga, UEFA Champions League, Copa del Rey | UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup |
| 2015/16 | La Liga, Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup | UEFA Champions League |
| 2016/17 | Spanish Super Cup | UEFA Super Cup |
| Total | 7 | 4 |
MSN vs BBC: Matches in which all three players scored
The last and final criteria used for comparison is the number of games in which all three players from the trio scored. Currently, all players from MSN have scored in 16 games which is double the number of games in which BBC has scored. This comes as no surprise when you compare the individual goal scoring records of these players. In addition, the fitness issues Bale and Benzema had in the last two seasons has limited the number of games in which all three players started.
| MSN | BBC | |
| 2014/15 | 7 games (La Liga – 5, Copa del Rey – 1, Champions League -1) | 3 (La Liga – 2, Champions League -1) |
| 2015/16 | 7 (La Liga – 6, Copa del Rey -1) | 5 (La Liga – 5) |
| 2016/17 | 2 (La Liga – 1, Champions League – 1) | 0 |
| Total | 16 | 8 |
