UEFA Champions League 2018-19: Tadic joins Messi and Neymar to receive a 'rare' 10/10 L'Equipe rating

What's the story?

Ajax forward Dusan Tadic, whose one goal and two assists helped the Dutch club knock reigning champions Real Madrid out of the UEFA Champions League, now sits among the likes of Barcelona star Lionel Messi, Neymar and Robert Lewandowski as he was given a rare 10/10 rating by French publication L'Equipe.

The Serbian international gave a man of the match performance for de Godenzonen at the Santiago Bernebau in a historical victory that will be remembered by the fans for years to come.

In case you didn't know...

Former Southampton striker Tadic became only the ninth player ever to be awarded a perfect rating score by the French media outlet, since L'Euipe's started giving post-match ratings in 1946.

Ajax’s Dusan Tadic with the rare 10/10 rating from L’Equipe ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/74EZl5tIsz

— Jonathan Johnson (@Jon_LeGossip) March 6, 2019

Lionel Messi is the only player in history to earn a 10/10 rating on two occasions, that too in the Champions League itself. He first earned the honour in 2010 when he scored all of Barcelona's goals in the 4-1 win over Arsenal and last went home with a perfect rating in 2012 with a five-goal haul against German side Bayer Leverkusen.

Neymar, Lewandowski and Carlos Eduardo are the only other contemporary players who have the bragging rights for the perfect score.

The heart of the matter...

Tadic who moved to Dutch giants Ajax this summer from Premier League side Southampton, has been in the form of his life in the Eredivisie this season.

He continued his red hot form into the Champions League against Los Blancos as well and earned a rare distinction of being rated 10/10 by L'Equipe as he and his teammates handed the Spanish giants their third straight loss in seven days at their home.

All the Perfect 10s. (Source: DailyMail)

The 30-year-old later spoke to the media and joked that former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane was his inspiration behind the stellar performance. He told Veronica TV, (Via Goal).

"This is probably the best game of football I've ever played, [Zinedine] Zidane was always my favourite player. Maybe I was watching too many of his clips."

What's next?

Tadic earned a place among the elites of the game, but his heroics now mean that Real Madrid are out of contention of winning any silverware this season.