Stats: Who is the best passer in the Champions League so far?

Xabi Alonso has completed the most passes in the Champions League this season

With five of the six Champions League group stage fixtures complete, 11 teams have already qualified for the knockout stages. Only five more teams stand a chance of reaching the Round of 16.

When we take a look at the best passers in the competition so far, one man stands above the rest when it comes to Passes Completed. Bayern Munich’s summer signing Xabi Alonso is way ahead of the rest with a total of 433 successful passes in five games so far.

To even the playing field, we have only taken the stats of players who have played all five games so far. So pass masters like Philipp Lahm and Javier Mascherano miss out (4 games each).

Toni Kroos, Alonso’s replacement at Real Madrid, is second with 361 passes while Dani Alves is third with 355 passes. Cesc Fabregas and Giorgio Chiellini complete the top five.

In terms of Key Passes, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has an astounding 20 key passes so far in five matches. But the Argentine forward has only two assists to his name.

However, the player with the most assists in the competition so far is Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke with 4 assists.

BEST PASSERS IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

#	PLAYER	CLUB	SUCCESSFUL PASSES	PASS ACCURACY	KEY PASSES	ASSISTS
1	Xabi Alonso	Bayern Munich	433	91%	7	0
2	Toni Kroos	Real Madrid	361	95%	4	1
3	Dani Alves	Barcelona	355	89%	5	2
4	Cesc Fabregas	Chelsea	349	89%	14	3
5	Giorgio Chiellini	Juventus	332	87%	0	0
6	Mehdi Benatia	Bayern Munich	317	91%	1	0
7	Nemanja Matic	Chelsea	299	89%	3	0
8	Maxwell	PSG	286	92%	2	0
9	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	272	86%	20	2
10	Fabian Frei	FC Basel	266	86%	5	2

Stats from Squawka. Only players who have played all 5 games have been considered.