Messi and Neymar with Mbappé on Barça tracks: most dangerous trios since 2000

Bayern trio new in top 30

With 26 goals and 22 of a possible 24 points, Paris Saint-Germain leads Ligue 1, no team from the top 5 European leagues has scored more often this season. 19 goals alone can be attributed to the offensive trio of Lionel Messi (4), Kylian Mbappé (7) and Neymar (8), who, if you include national and international cup competitions, have already celebrated 27 times in eleven games. A quota that makes the three world stars currently the most accurate trio in Europe – with continued clocking and successes in the Champions League and Coupe de France, the record of 131 goals, which has not been achieved in this millennium, could be broken.

“MSN” & “BBC” dominate: The most dangerous scoring trios since 2000 (top 5 leagues)

29th place: Luca Toni (39), Miroslav Klose (21), Franck Ribéry (19)

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79 goals for FC Bayern in the 2007/08 season

29th place: Cristiano Ronaldo (42), Carlos Tevez (19), Wayne Rooney (18)

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79 goals for Manchester United in the 2007/08 season

29th place: Didier Drogba (37), Frank Lampard (27), Nicolas Anelka (15)

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79 goals for Chelsea in the 2009/10 season

29th place: Ruud van Nistelrooy (44), Paul Scholes (20), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (15)

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79 goals for Manchester United in the 2002/03 season

24th place: Edin Dzeko (35), Grafite (35), Zvjezdan Misimovic (11)

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81 goals for VfL Wolfsburg in the 2008/09 season

24th place: Cristiano Ronaldo (42), Alvaro Morata (20), Karim Benzema (19)

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81 goals for Real Madrid in the 2016/17

24th place: Lionel Messi (41), Alexis Sanchez (21), Pedro (19)

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81 goals for FC Barcelona in the 2013/14 season

24th place: Robert Lewandowski (42), Thomas Müller (32), Arjen Robben (7)

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81 goals for FC Bayern in the 2015/16 season

24th place: Robert Lewandowski (50), Serge Gnabry (17), Leroy Sané (14)

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81 goals for FC Bayern in the 2021/22 season

23rd place: Edinson Cavani (49), Lucas Moura (19), Angel Di María (14)

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82 goals for PSG in the 2016/17 season

20th place: Lionel Messi (45), Luis Suarez (31), Paulinho (9)

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85 goals for FC Barcelona in the 2017/18 season

20th place: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (39), Marco Reus (23), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (23)

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85 goals for BVB in the 2015/16 season

20th place: Kylian Mbappé (39), Edinson Cavani (23), Neymar (23)

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85 goals for PSG in the 2018/19 season

19th place: Lionel Messi (51), Luis Suárez (23), Ousmane Dembélé (14)

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88 goals for FC Barcelona in the 2018/19 season

18th place: Edinson Cavani (40), Neymar (28), Angel Di María (21)

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89 goals for PSG in the 2017/18 season

16th place: Lionel Messi (60), David Villa (16), Cesc Fàbregas (14)

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90 goals for FC Barcelona in the 2012/13 season

16th place: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (50), Edinson Cavani (25), Ángel Di María (15)

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90 goals for PSG in the 2015/16 season

14th place: Mohamed Salah (44), Roberto Firmino (27), Sadio Mané (20)

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91 goals for Liverpool in the 2017/18 season

14th place: Lionel Messi (47), Pedro (23), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (21)

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91 goals for FC Barcelona in the 2009/10 season

12th place: Cristiano Ronaldo (53), Karim Benzema (26), Gonzalo Higuaín (13)

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92 goals for Real Madrid in the 2010/11 season

12th place: Robert Lewandowski (55), Serge Gnabry (23), Thomas Müller (14)

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92 goals for FC Bayern in the 2019/20 season

11th place: Cristiano Ronaldo (55), Karim Benzema (20), Gonzalo Higuaín (18)

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93 goals for Real Madrid in the 2012/13 season

10th place: Cristiano Ronaldo (51), Karim Benzema (24), Gareth Bale (22)

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97 goals for Real Madrid in the 2013/14 season

8th place: Cristiano Ronaldo (51), Karim Benzema (28), Gareth Bale (19)

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98 goals for Real Madrid in the 2015/16 season

8th place: Lionel Messi (53), David Villa (23), Pedro (22)

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98 goals for FC Barcelona in the 2010/11 season

6th place: Cristiano Ronaldo (61), Karim Benzema (22), Gareth Bale (17)

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100 goals for Real Madrid in the 2014/15 season

6th place: Lionel Messi (38), Samuel Eto’o (36), Thierry Henry (26)

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100 goals for FC Barcelona in the 2008/09 season

5th place: Lionel Messi (73), Cesc Fàbregas (15), Xavi (14)

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102 goals for FC Barcelona in the 2011/12 season

4th place: Lionel Messi (54), Luis Suárez (36), Neymar (20)

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110 goals for FC Barcelona in the 2016/17 season

3rd place: Cristiano Ronaldo (60), Karim Benzema (32), Gonzalo Higuaín (26)

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118 goals for Real Madrid in the 2011/12 season

2nd place: Lionel Messi (58), Neymar (39), Luis Suárez (25)

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122 goals for FC Barcelona in the 2014/15 season

1st place: Luis Suárez (59), Lionel Messi (41), Neymar (31)

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131 goals for FC Barcelona in the 2015/16 season

Two of the three current PSG professionals were involved in the latter: together with strike partner Luis Suárez, Messi and Neymar set the record in the 2015/16 season in the service of FC Barcelona. The trio, dubbed “MSN” by fans and the media, trumped their masterly performance of 122 goals from the previous year. Remarkable: Most of the goals this year did not go to the account of the six-time world footballer Messi, but were contributed by Suárez. The Uruguayan has struck 59 times in 53 games, the best season of his career and the only time since 2007/08 that Messi hasn’t been the Catalans’ top scorer.

In total, Messi has made it into the top 30 trios eleven times with different team-mates since 2000. In 2008/09 he was assisted by Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry (100 goals), three years later by Cesc Fàbregas and Xavi (102) and most recently 2018/19 Suarez and Ousmane Dembele (88). However, he had the three most successful seasons with Suárez and Neymar, occupying three of the top four places. Real Madrid are in third place around Cristiano Ronaldo – the Portuguese (60) scored 118 goals together with Karim Benzema (32) and Gonzalo Higuaín (26) in the 2011/12 season.

Ronaldo and Benzema, even in combination with Gareth Bale, were not able to match this record in the following years: With 100 goals for the royals in the 2014/15 season, the trio known as “BBC” found their place in the top 30 ranking for the first time 6 again. During their time at Real, the three attackers were even more successful in terms of titles than in terms of hit rate: In five seasons together, they brought the Champions League trophy to the Spanish capital four times before Ronaldo made the 117 million euro move to Juventus decided. The now 37-year-old was not able to re-enter the millennium ranking of the most prolific trios either with the “Old Lady” or after his return to Manchester United – not a single Serie A club is represented. With the FC Bayern combination of Robert Lewandowski, Serge Gnabry and Thomas Müller (92 goals in 2019/20), there is a non-Spanish trio in 12th place for the first time.

Season 2022/23: 5x Bundesliga among Europe’s top scoring trios

The Munich team, who have been listed four times, were the only team in Europe to have a new representative in the ranking last season: Lewandowski (50), Gnabry (17) and Leroy Sané (14) finished in 24th place with 81 goals a. VfL Wolfsburg, for whom Edin Dzeko (35), Grafite (35) and Zvjezdan Misimovic (11) scored just as many stalls in the 2008/09 championship year, is also the second of a total of three German clubs. In addition, there is the BVB trio of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (39), Marco Reus (23), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (23), who are in 20th place with 85 goals during the 2015/16 season.

A look at the current season shows that there are now five Bundesliga teams in the top 10 led by the PSG trio mentioned at the beginning: while Jamal Musiala (6) and Sadio Mané (5) replaced Lewandowski and Gnabry, who had migrated, and together with Leroy Sané (5) form the third most dangerous trio, the Mönchengladbach combination consisting of Marcus Thuram (6), Jonas Hofmann (5) and Ramy Bensebaini (3) played in fifth place with 14 goals – directly followed by the Freiburg axis Vincenzo Grifo (4), Michael Gregoritsch (5) and Ritsu Doan (5).

Table leader Union Berlin, where Sheraldo Becker, Jordan and Sven Michel were instrumental in the sporting high flight of the Köpenickers with their twelve goals, is in 9th place. If Becker has his way, the Union could continue to improve in the coming weeks: “I have more potential and I want to show everyone that,” the 27-year-old said during the week. Christopher Nkunku (6), Timo Werner (4) and Dani Olmo (2) from RB Leipzig also scored twelve goals, which means that they now also stand in line with Real Madrid’s offensive series of Vinicius Junior (5), Federico Valverde (4) and Rodrygo (3 ) from the current top 10.

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