Champions League: The Top 10 All-Around Attacking Players

3. Gabriel Jesus, Manchester City (4.17)

His critics are suggesting that the 22-year-old Brazilian is not capable of being the heir apparent to Sergio Aguero as Manchester City’s top forward. The numbers don’t completely support that argument.

Jesus has ten goals and four assists in Premier League play this season. He is having his best season at City in npxG+xA/90 and leads the league in that category. He is also second in the top flight in xGBuildup90.

In the Champions League, Gabriel is also having his best season with five goals, two assists, and a npxG+xA/90 of 1.04, according to FBref.com.

What critics may be looking at is Jesus’ problems converting goal opportunities. His xG-goals is +4.12, which is the third-worst in the Premier League among players with more than five goals in open play. However, this number is actually an improvement from last season.

2. Riyad Mahrez, Manchester City (4.31)

Mahrez would get my vote for the best player who is not a household name in the Premier League. In his second year at City, he has scored seven goals and eight assists.

He ranks third and fourth in the league in npxG+xA/90 and xGBuildup90 respectively. Riyad is best in the top flight in xGChain90. His xG-goals of -2.07 makes him also one of the best clinical finishers in the league.

All of these numbers strongly suggest that he is involved in all aspects of offensive play even if he is not racking up large numbers of goals and assists, but can be clinical in his finishing when it’s necessary.

In the Champions League, the experienced 29 year old has posted one goal and four assists in six matches so far. Per FBref.com, his npxG+xA is a strong 0.79.

1. Thomas Muller, Bayern Munich (4.38)

Thomas Muller?

The 30-year old German who doesn’t score goals anymore? That Thomas Muller?

Yes. That Thomas Muller.

In actuality, he does score goals. He just does not score as many of them as he did when he was a little younger. In each of the last four seasons (including 2019-20), Muller as notched 5, 6, 8, and 5 goals. This was a significant goal drop-off from the four prior campaigns where he had 13, 13, 13, and 20 goals.

As his goal-scoring has shifted along with the coaching tactics that he has played under, Thomas has adapted his game accordingly. He has always been a solid set-up man, but in the last four seasons, he has focused on being more of a part of the build-up of play and making key passes. The German has been also versatile as he has continued to be capable of playing both in midfield and as a forward effectively.

His assist totals in the last four seasons (including 2019-20) are 12, 14, 9, and 16. Thomas made 62 key passes last season and already has 54 now. He is leading the Bundesliga in assists and is fourth in key passes, according to FBref.com.

https://twitter.com/brfootball/status/1233781839132794880

Muller is third in the Bundesliga in npxG+xA/90 and fourth in xGBuildup90. However, he is first in the German top division by a wide margin in xGChain90. This suggests that he is consistently a critical component in Bayern’s offensive attack even though he may not always now be at the end of it.

In other words, Muller is the squirrel stuck in your attic. He is always there. You may not always hear him, but he’s there. Once you think he might not be there, then he makes a jarring amount of noise.

In the Champions League, he has been primarily a substitute, however, he has contributed two goals and two assists despite only starting three matches. With Robert Lewandowski out for around a month, Muller may have a much more prominent role in FCB’s offensive attack. The same can also be said for Gnabry and Countinho who are also on this list.

You may be wondering about who is missing from this list. Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo, and the aforementioned Lewandowski. Since we are talking about all-around offensive players the criteria are more than just scoring goals. It’s also everything that leads to it. These prolific scorers did not meet the criteria for the list due to having too few assists.

These excellent all-round offensive players do it all on the pitch consistently. They are quite versatile in what positions they play on the pitch and what tactics they can be used in. These are huge strengths.

They can score goals, make key passes leading to goals, be involved in the build-up, and make an effective influence on the field. All on a consistent basis.

It is these players that could make the biggest difference tangibly and intangibly for their clubs in the Champions League going forward.