Lionel Messi did better than last season, that’s undeniable. The best passer in Ligue 1 (16 offers) also finished the exercise ranked best dribbler. With 103 successful dribbles – compared to 64 last year – La Pulga are ahead of Rennes’ Jérémy Doku (96) and Nantes’ Ludovic Blas (81). Even his glorious teammate Kylian Mbappé, distinguished at the end of the previous championship, lost sharply, fifth behind Lyonnais Rayan Cherki (79) with 74 effective dribbles.

The laurels thus braided on the head of the Argentinian, remains an implacable observation: 13 players have done better in the past in the French elite. In the past ten years, seven top dribblers in Ligue 1 have been more prolific in this area than the former blaugrana genius. Among which Kylian Mbappé last season (110) and Neymar at the end of the 2017-2018 financial year (142).

HBA, Saint-Maximin and Neymar much higher

With his 103 past dribbles, Lionel Messi even points very far from the record holder Hatem Ben Arfa, for all of his work in 2015-2016. The latter all played in the ranks of OGC Nice, and had successfully converted 153 of his dribble attempts, 50 more than the sevenfold Ballon d’Or crowned this spring. Former Aiglon Allan Saint-Maximin can be proud of having also blithely dominated the world champion in the past. You have top of his 143 successful dribbles in 2018-2019.

The best dribblers in L1 over the past 10 seasons:
Hatem Ben Arfa (OGC Nice) in 2015-2016: 153
Allan Saint-Maximin (OGC Nice) in 2018-2019: 143
Allan Saint-Maximin (SC Bastia) in 2016-2017: 142
Neymar Jr (PSG) in 2017-2018: 142
Kylian Mbappé (PSG) in 2021-2022: 112
Giannelli Imbula (OM) and 2014-2015: 110
Documentary by Jérémy (Stade Rennais) in 2020-2021: 110
Lionel Messi (PSG) in 2022-2023: 103
Neymar Jr (PSG) in 2019-2020 (season truncated by covid): 90
Lucas Moura (PSG) in 2013-2014: 85