Bloomberg Sports releases Top 50 Players list

 

 

Bloomberg Sports used their “Football Power Index” to rate players in club soccer throughout the world on a scientific 100-point scale over the past year’s play.  They released the 50-player list today, and it’s topped by the Primera Division duo of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Those top two spots were obvious – Messi and Ronaldo have been top 2 for the last 3 years – but following them is an interesting cast. Franck Ribery of treble-winning Bayern Munich grabs the third spot, followed by German foes Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus. Midfielder Andrea Pirlo of Juventus rounded out the top 5.

The Bundesliga, with two teams making the Champions League finals, again showing they’re a world-class league with the most players on the list (15).  The English Premier League, despite having their highest-ranked player down at number 6 in Robin van Persie, put up quantity with 14 players making the rankings. Bayern Munich had more players than any other club, placing five on the list, while Juventus had four.

 

Bloomberg describes their point system as in-depth, saying, “Our advanced analysis covers greater than 100 types of player actions, leading to roughly 1,000 to 1,500 data points for each European match. Evaluating the data, we shift to analyzing players based on their core responsibilities on the field. The ratings are updated continuously, allowing for player performance to be tracked on a weekly basis.”

The description also mentioned they pride themselves on recognizing players who may not have the biggest names but provide immensely valuable contributions to their clubs.

BSports Power Football Top 50 Rankings
Rank	Player	Club	BSports Rating
1	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	91.25
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	91.16
3	Franck Ribery	Bayern Munich	89.27
4	Marco Reus	Borussia Dortmund	89.10
5	Andrea Pirlo	Juventus	88.62
6	Robin van Persie	Manchester United	88.14
7	Giorgio Chiellini	Juventus	87.46
8	Marek Hamsik	Napoli	87.01
9	Gareth Bale	Tottenham	87.01
10	Santiago Cazorla	Arsenal	86.37
11	Arturo Vidal	Juventus	86.19
12	Marouane Fellaini	Everton	85.92
13	Maxime Gonalons	Lyon	85.89
14	Bastian Schweinsteiger	Bayern Munich	85.88
15	Luis Suarez	Liverpool	85.49
16	Leighton Baines	Everton	85.11
17	Mesut Ozil	Real Madrid	84.75
18	Jan Vertonghen	Tottenham	84.25
19	Thomas Muller	Bayern Munich	83.96
20	Edinson Cavani	Napoli	83.78
21	Rafael	Manchester United	83.33
22	Toni Kroos	Bayern Munich	83.19
23	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	Paris Saint Germain	82.91
24	Juan Mata	Chelsea	82.26
25	Xavi	Barcelona	81.97
26	Wayne Rooney	Manchester United	81.95
27	Kwadwo Asamoah	Juventus	81.51
28	Christian Abbiati	AC Milan	81.27
29	Christian Benteke	Aston Villa	81.03
30	Falcao	Atletico Madrid	80.78
31	Dante	Bayern Munich	80.52
32	Mario Gotze	Borussia Dortmund	80.39
33	Hugo Campagnaro	Napoli	80.10
34	Jefferson Farfan	Schalke	79.89
35	Oliver Sorg	Freiburg	79.72
36	Erik Lamela	Roma	79.56
37	Robert Lewandowski	Borussia Dortmund	79.11
38	Phillipp Lahm	Bayern Munich	78.54
39	Gonzalo Higuain	Real Madrid	78.52
40	Dani Alves	Barcelona	78.15
41	Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang	Saint Etienne	77.98
42	Yaya Toure	Manchester City	77.86
43	Kevin Constant	AC Milan	77.81
44	Stefan Kiessling	Bayer Leverkusen	77.42
45	Mikel Arteta	Arsenal	77.26
46	Simon Mignolet	Sunderland	76.87
47	Antonio Di Natale	Udinese	76.55
48	Alexander Meier	Eintracht Frankfurt	76.21
49	Mathieu Valbuena	Marseille	76.06
50	Ron-Robert Zieler	Hannover	75.88