Comparing the records of the ‘MSN’, ‘BBC’ and ‘MNM’ front threes

The last decade has seen some of the best attacking trios in the history of football, with star-studded front lines at Barcelona, Real Madrid and now Paris-Saint Germain delivering the goals and the skills to write themselves into football history.

The presence of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo boosts these attacks to an unreachable level for other clubs, but the likes of Neymar, Luis Suarez and Karim Benzema also played their part in creating some of the most devastating trios ever seen on a football pitch.

The ‘MSN’ trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar won a historic treble in 2014-15, and were too much for most teams to handle as they married genius individualism with Barcelona’s trademark passing style of play.

At the same time, the ‘BBC’ of Benzema, Ronaldo and Gareth Bale won a threepeat of Champions League titles and always seemed to come good in the biggest moments.

Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe is likewise a mouthwatering prospect and despite getting knocked out of the Champions League they managed to wrest back PSG’s Ligue 1 crown from Lille last season.

They also still have time to do damage on Europe’s biggest stage with Kylian Mbappe having committed his immediate future to PSG and Messi and Neymar both set to stay for at least one more season.

After his new deal was announced, Mbappe said: “I have chosen to extend my contract at Paris Saint-Germain, and I am very happy.

“I am convinced that here I can continue to grow within a club that gives itself all the means to perform at the highest level.

“I am also very happy to be able to continue playing in France, the country where I was born, grew up and flourished.”

But which has been the most effective attacking trio of the past decade? We’ve compared the combined records of each of these three famous front lines during the period where all three were at the same club together, to provide a definitive answer.

Messi – Suarez – Neymar (MSN)

Games – 451
Wins – 322
Draws – 66
Losses – 63

Goals – 363
Assists – 272

Minutes per goal – 111
Minutes per goal or assist – 62.7

Trophies – 7

Benzema – Bale – Cristiano (BBC)

Games – 658
Wins – 427
Draws – 138
Losses – 93

Goals – 442
Assists – 243

Minutes per goal – 132.9
Minutes per goal or assist – 78.9

Trophies – 12

Messi – Neymar – Mbappe (MNM)

Games – 108
Wins – 67
Draws – 25
Losses – 16

Goals – 63
Assists – 49

Minutes per goal – 144.6
Minutes per goal or assist – 81.4

Trophies – 1

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