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

Quick Reads
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar celebrate a goal against Sevilla, Camp Nou, April 2017

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, Cristiano 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 remains a mouthwatering prospect on paper but has yet to fully impress on the pitch for PSG, despite the ridiculous level of talent stacked in their squad.

As Neymar turns 30, the question of his role at PSG has been raised but that shouldn’t detract from what he has offered both the French champions and Barcelona over the past decade.

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 – 61
Wins – 32
Draws – 20
Losses – 9

Goals – 28
Assists – 25

Minutes per goal – 179
Minutes per goal or assist – 94.5

Trophies – 0

More from Planet Football

Neymar, David Bowie, and being a victim of your own genius

Can you name Barcelona’s XI from Neymar’s debut in 2013?

The three players PSG signed alongside Neymar & how they fared

Barcelona Kylian Mbappe Lionel Messi Luis Suarez Neymar PSG