As voted by readers MARCA, the Spanish publication revealed the top 10 players of 2015, with the New Year just around the corner.
Unsurprisingly, the list was dominated by Barcelona players, having won five trophies since the beginning of the 2014-15 season: La Liga, Copa del Rey, the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
However, what was shocking about the ranking was that Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo finished outside the top five, let alone top three, in 8th spot.
The 30-year-old, despite ending the campaign trophy-less with Los Blancos, won last season’s Pichichi with his 48 strikes in the Spanish Primera Division.
Furthermore, despite many tipping the Portuguese ace to finish behind both Messi and Neymar in this year’s Ballon d’Or race, the former Man United ace has continued his fine goalscoring form, netting a record-breaking 11 goals in the Champions League group stage.
Speaking of Messi and Neymar, the Argentine and Brazilian superstars grabbed first and second place on the list, respectively, solely down to their 47 and 41 goals in all competitions in this calendar year.
Luis Suarez completed the top three, solidifying the notion that no other players can better the Blaugrana’s MSN, having scored 134 goals in 2015 alone.
Andres Iniesta finished in at fourth, whilst Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, who recently received an honor from the Guinness Book of Records for his five-goal haul in 9 minutes, came in at 5th.
Sergio Busquets and Claudio Bravo scooped up the 6th and 7th spot.
See full list below:
1-) Lionel Messi (Barca)
2-) Neymar (Barca)
3-) Luis Suarez (Barca)
4-) Andres Iniesta (Barca)
5-) Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
6-) Sergio Busquets (Barca)
7-) Claudio Bravo (Barca)
8-) Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
9-) Antoine Griezmann (Atletico)
10-) Paul Pogba (Juve)
