Messi back on top in form rankings but Benzema treble closes gap

Normality is restored in this week’s player form rankings as Lionel Messi returns to the top of the pile having returned to the Barcelona side at the weekend.

The Argentine failed to find the net in the 2-1 win over Real Sociedad - ending a five-match scoring streak in La Liga - but did register his 13th league assist of the season to displace Robert Lewandowski in pole position.

Elsewhere club mate Luis Suarez is the only other new qualifier from last week’s rankings having also sat out of the meeting with Huesca, with the Uruguayan down in 18th by comparison.

The only non-mover following the midweek fixtures, meanwhile, is that of Karim Benzema in second, with the Frenchman arguably in the best form of his career. The Real Madrid striker closed the gap to the top with a hat-trick against Athletic Club to extend his own goal run to five matches, notching eight times in that sequence. No other Real Madrid player has scored since the 31-year-old started that streak with a late winner against Huesca in March.

RISES

Joining Benzema as one of four players to have a hand in three goals in this week’s top 20, Hoffenheim striker Ishak Belfodil jumps six places to third. The Algerian scored twice and registered an assist in a 5-2 win at Schalke, taking his tallies to seven and two respectively in his last four outings.

Kylian Mbappe also bagged a treble as Paris-Saint Germain wrapped up the Ligue 1 title against his former club Monaco on Sunday, returning to the leaderboard in eighth having drawn a blank in each of his two previous appearances.

Meanwhile Newcastle’s Ayoze Perez rockets his way into the top 20 (17th) after a hat-trick of his own against Southampton. The Spaniard has now reached double figures in the league, with six of his ten goals this season having come in his last six appearances.

Elsewhere Nimes’ Teji Savanier is once again back in the top ten having scored one and assisted the other goal in a 2-1 win over Bordeaux, taking his respective tallies to six and 12 - the latter of which is now an outright high in Ligue 1.

Bundesliga trio Joshua Kimmich (tenth), Andrej Kramaric (11th) and Marcel Halstenberg (13th) all climb this week, with the latter scoring both goals in Leipzig’s 2-1 win at Gladbach - all but securing a Champions League finish.

Atalanta pair Alejandro Gomez (12th) and Duvan Zapata (16th) are also on the rise following a superb win from behind at Napoli, with the former creating four chances and completing eight dribbles and the latter scoring the equaliser before assisting the winner.

Bologna youngster Riccardo Orsolini is up to 14th and playing a key role in the club’s survival bid, scoring for the third game in six and doing his bit with and without the ball in that time, while Montpellier striker Andy Delort is in at 19 after a brace at the weekend earned all three points at Strasbourg.

FALLS

Last week’s leader Robert Lewandowski drops to fifth this week having now failed to score in successive matches, while Eden Hazard (fourth) and Thiago Alcantara (sixth) each fall one place this time around despite each registering an assist.

Lille’s forward Nicolas Pepe is down from fourth to ninth having failed to have his usual impact in a goalless draw with Toulouse, while Serge Gnabry drops nine places to 16th after a subdued display against former club Werder Bremen.

Completing the leaderboard this week, Josip Ilicic’s introduction helped spark a turnaround for Atalanta in Naples but had just 36 minutes on the pitch to build his rating and as such drops seven places.

QUALIFYING RULES

Only ratings taken from each player’s last six league matches are considered, weighted chronologically, with the most recent match carrying greater importance and so on. To qualify each player must have featured in their side’s last league game and started at least six of the last eight available.