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Paris Saint-Germain's Lionel Messi during the French L1 football match between Paris-Saint Germain (PSG) and Saint-Etienne (ASSE) at The Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris on February 26, 2022.

Messi & Mbappe clicking: 10 amazing PSG stats after their latest win

Paris Saint-Germain haven’t received a ton of praise for their performances this season, but they’ve been steadily improving in recent weeks and look on track for a special campaign.

In particular, Kylian Mbappe looks the best player in the world on current form, while after a slow start to life in Paris, Lionel Messi is reminding us how he dominated world football for over a decade.

The two are really starting to click together, and their contributions have led to the Parisiens effectively wrapping up the league title three months early. They’re also well-placed to make it past La Liga leaders Real Madrid and into the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

“It’s not easy to describe his performances,” PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino said after Mbappe shone in a 3-1 victory over Saint-Etienne.

“It’s incredible, magnificent. I am proud of him. I am happy about the game, we ended it well. The performance was a lot better when we changed certain tactical aspects. We add small things to this team, and that gives us a great richness in tactical terms for the big games.”

Here are 10 stats that demonstrate why Pochettino’s PSG are a force to be reckoned with – and how impressive Mbappe and Messi, in particular, have been.

– With his two assists for Mbappe in the victory over Saint-Etienne last night, Messi moved joint-top of the Ligue 1 assists chart with 10, level with… you guessed it, Kylian Mbappe.

– In Europe’s top five leagues, only Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller and Sassuolo’s Domenico Berardi have registered more assists than the PSG pair this season.

– Five of Messi’s assists have come since the turn of the year. No player in Europe’s top five leagues has registered more in 2022 so far.

– Messi ranks top in terms of ‘shot-creating actions’ and ‘goal-creating actions’ per 90 minutes in Europe’s top five leagues this season (via FBref). He also ranks top for completed through balls – with 16 in total.

– No player in Europe’s top five leagues this season averages a better passing accuracy than Presnel Kimpembe (96.8%). Thilo Kehrer and Danilo Pereira also make the top five.

– Kylian Mbappe has received the ball 305 times from progressive passes. That’s 33 more than the next-most, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, in Europe’s top five leagues. Well-served.

– Mbappe has completed 80 successful dribbles in Ligue 1 this season. Only Barcelona’s Adama Traore and Newcastle’s Allan Saint-Maximin have completed more.

– In spite of facing criticism for their performances this season, PSG have only actually lost two matches and will surely reclaim the Ligue 1 title. They boast a 16-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 – only Austria’s RB Salzburg boast a bigger lead in any of Europe’s leagues.

– PSG’s dominance is borne out by the underlying statistics, ranking top in terms of average possession (61%), passing accuracy (90.5%) and xG difference per 90 (+0.95).

– At the age of 23, Mbappe is already PSG’s joint-second top goalscorer of all-time, level with Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He’s scored 156 goals in 205 appearances. Only Edinson Cavani has scored more.


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