CASTROL EDGE RANKINGS ANALYSIS

The Argentina star will go into next month’s 2010 FIFA World Cup™ on the back of an outstanding campaign during which he helped Barcelona to a second successive La Liga title.

Castrol has applied the same expertise they apply to the development of their oils to create the Castrol Rankings – using objective analysis and highly advanced technology to measure every pass, every tackle and every single move of over 2,000 players and games from Europe’s top five leagues over the last 12 months.

That analysis highlights Lionel Messi’s devastating strengths as a goalscorer and as a creator of scoring opportunities, and explains why he maintained his place at the head of the Castrol Rankings beating Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo to become the world’s best player.


In front of goal the forward has been deadly, scoring 34 league goals over the course of the season, including 25 in 20 starts since the turn of the year, making him the leading scorer across Europe’s top leagues.

Messi was also the top scorer in the UEFA Champions League with eight goals, including a four-goal haul against Arsenal at the Camp Nou in the quarter-finals in April. This performance earned him the Castrol EDGE Performance of the Season with a total of 2828 Castrol Rankings points.

The South American’s scoring success owes much to his shooting accuracy. No player in La Liga matched his 66% shooting accuracy rate while in the Champions League, the forward struck a competition-high 28 shots on target.

Messi’s strengths extend beyond simply scoring goals, and he has proved to be equally effective in creating chances for others with his return of 10 assists in La Liga which was only bettered by Barca team-mate Xavi who provided 14 assists.

His ability to unsettle defences, meanwhile, is shown by the fact he completed 145 dribbles in La Liga and 61 in the Champions League – more than any other player. Messi’s willingness to run at the opposition also meant that, alongside Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben, he was the most fouled player in the Champions League, earning 30 free-kicks for his side.

Castrol Ambassador and 1998 FIFA World Cup™ winner Marcel Desailly said: “One of Messi’s greatest strengths over the past 12 months has been the consistency of his performances. He poses a threat in every game he plays and his skill on the ball means he can conjure a chance out of nothing.

“His ability to run with the ball stands out whenever you watch him play but he also has great intelligence and knows exactly when to release the ball. Many players can dribble but there has to be an end product and with Messi, he frequently creates a shooting opportunity for himself or for his team-mates.

“It sums up the quality of the player that he finishes the season ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in the Castrol Rankings because Ronaldo has been exceptional in his first year at Real Madrid.”

Top 10 La Liga Players – 2009/10

Pos	Player	Position	Club	Castrol Ranking Points
1	Lionel Messi	Forward	Barcelona	1133
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	Midfielder	Real Madrid	1065
6	Gonzalo Higuaín	Forward	Real Madrid	888
8	Luis Fabiano	Forward	Sevilla	858
9	David Villa	Forward	Valencia	854
12	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	Forward	Barcelona	837
13	Gerard Piqué	Defender	Barcelona	830
14	Daniel Alves	Defender	Barcelona	820
19	David Silva	Midfielder	Valencia	800
23	Roberto Soldado	Forward	Getafe	789

Didier Drogba is the top ranked Premier League player for the 2009/10 season, after helping Chelsea complete their first ever league and FA Cup double to move up to third place, one ahead of Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney.

Drogba has been in prolific goalscoring form, and also pipped Rooney to the Premier League Golden Boot award by scoring 29 league goals, including a hat-trick in the final league game of the season against Wigan Athletic. His record is even more impressive given that he missed the whole of January while on international duty with Ivory Coast at the 2010 FIFA Africa Cup of Nations.

Drogba’s 29 goals came from 67 shots on target, more than any other Premier League player, while the striker’s 10 assists meant he was involved in 38% of Chelsea’s record-breaking return of 103 Premier League goals.

Top 10 Premier League Players – 2009/10

Pos	Player	Position	Club	Castrol Ranking Points
3	Didier Drogba	Forward	Chelsea	936
4	Wayne Rooney	Forward	Manchester United	920
7	Fernando Torres	Forward	Liverpool	861
10	Frank Lampard	Midfielder	Chelsea	845
18	Marcus Hahnemann	Goalkeeper	Wolverhampton Wanderers	801
20	Carlos Tévez	Forward	Manchester City	795
21	Florent Malouda	Midfielder	Chelsea	790
21	Nicolas Anelka	Forward	Chelsea	790
25	Francesc Fabregas	Midfielder	Arsenal	783
28	Edwin Van der Sar	Goalkeeper	Manchester United	772

Arjen Robben’s contribution to Bayern Munich’s success in winning the Bundesliga and reaching the Champions League final has moved him up to fifth in the Castrol Rankings, making the Dutch winger the highest-ranked Bundesliga player for the 2009/10 season.

Robben helped his club to their 22nd league title, scoring 16 goals in 26 appearances with 12 of those goals coming since the turn of the year. The winger, meanwhile, saved his best Champions League form until the knockout stages of the competition, scoring twice against Fiorentina, and once against Manchester United and Lyon.

Top 10 Bundesliga Players – 2009/10

Pos	Player	Position	Club	Castrol Ranking Points
5	Arjen Robben	Midfielder	Bayern München	897
10	Ivica Olic	Forward	Bayern München	845
15	Claudio Pizarro	Forward	Werder Bremen	810
16	Lucas Barrios	Forward	Borussia Dortmund	808
17	Toni Kroos	Midfielder	Bayer Leverkusen	804
29	Sami Hyypiä	Defender	Bayer Leverkusen	771
33	Daniel van Buyten	Defender	Bayern München	766
36	Naldo	Defender	Werder Bremen	759
49	Edin Dzeko	Forward	VfL Wolfsburg	737
52	Mats Hummels	Defender	Borussia Dortmund	736

Mevlut Erding is in 42nd place making him the highest ranked Ligue 1 player. Erding has proved himself to be an instinctive striker this season, scoring 15 goals in a Paris St Germain side that finished in the bottom half of the table.

All of the striker’s goals came from inside the penalty area with Erding hitting seven with his right foot, four with his left foot as well as converting four headers. In all, Erding hit the target with 55% of his attempts on goal and provided two assists.

Top 10 Ligue 1 Players – 2009/10

Pos	Player	Position	Club	Castrol Ranking Points
42	Mevlut Erding	Forward	Paris Saint Germain	747
43	Lucho González	Midfielder	Marseille	745
59	Hugo Lloris	Goalkeeper	Lyon	732
61	Stéphane Ruffier	Goalkeeper	Monaco	729
66	Gervinho	Forward	Lille	725
78	Teddy Richert	Goalkeeper	Sochaux	713
79	Michaël Ciani	Defender	Bordeaux	712
86	Olivier Sorin	Goalkeeper	Auxerre	706
90	Mamadou Niang	Forward	Marseille	705
93	Yoann Gourcuff	Midfielder	Bordeaux	703

Antonio Di Natale, 27th, is the highest ranked player in Serie A. The Udinese striker is also ranked as the Italian league’s top scorer with 29 goals this season, and has six assists to his name, ensuring he was involved in 65% of his side’s goals (35 out of 54).

Di Natale attempted the most shots in the Italian top-flight (152), and also tested the keeper more times than any other player with 71 of these shots on target.

Top 10 Serie A Players – 2009/10

Pos	Player	Position	Club	Castrol Ranking Points
27	Antonio Di Natale	Forward	Udinese	774
34	Marco Storari	Goalkeeper	Sampdoria	760
40	Alberto Gilardino	Forward	Fiorentina	752
71	Julio César	Goalkeeper	Internazionale	718
83	Alexandre Pato	Forward	Milan	710
86	Mariano Andujar	Goalkeeper	Catania	706
86	Maicon	Defender	Internazionale	706
97	Wesley Sneijder	Midfielder	Internazionale	696
101	Sebastien Frey	Goalkeeper	Fiorentina	692
105	Morgan De Sanctis	Goalkeeper	Napoli	690