The CIES football observatory has used its rankings system to see who the best players in Europe’s Top 5 leagues have been this season, and while the fact that there’s a Chelsea player in there won’t surprise you, their identity might.
Eden Hazard has perhaps been the best player in Europe in that time, but he’s nowhere to be seen. Instead it’s Antonio Rudiger – who to be fair has been very impressive – who’s up there.
We’ve not quite sure what kind of rankings system would include Granit Xhaka ahead of Hazard – it clearly needs a bit of tweaking – but seeing Rudiger get some well-deserved recognition is nice.
You can see the full rankings in the image below:
Updated big-5 league performance rankings according to exclusive @CIES_Football metrics, last month: @Thiago6 ahead of teammate Kimmich & @aguerosergiokun! #Moutinho #Xhaka #Mandi, full tables at https://t.co/aFo5yNRdXd Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/I2cFifJHtg
— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) September 26, 2018
Hazard didn’t start two of the first games of the season, and was a little off the pace in the most recent one, but the football he played between those two points was sensational enough to merit him top spot in any list.
