7. Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
Games played: 18
Successful take-ons: 81
Success rate: 61%
FC Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has been the very best player in the world for much of the last decade.
The Argentine forward has had somewhat of an injury hit first half of the campaign, but when he has played he has still shone, with his low centre of gravity allowing him to change direction, stop and start play almost instantly.
Unusually for a player considered one of the best dribblers in history, Messi doesn’t have a huge box of tricks up his sleeves (if you can forgive the awful mixed metaphors).
He relies on a wonderful sense of balance and reading of the game to predict defenders’ movements, and that is what has helped him score a plethora of glorious solo goals throughout his career – running with the ball from within his own half on multiple occasions.