The battle to be crowned European Assists King for the 2021/22 season is well over the halfway mark now and there is a familiar face at the top of the leaderboard.
Thomas Müller has been the man to beat over recent years, impressively being named the continent’s top creative player for two straight seasons despite the Bundesliga having only 34 games rather than the 38 of many other major leagues.
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Müller therefore headed into this season as one of the top candidates to produce the most assists in Europe.
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The 2021/22 European Assist King award will be won by the player who provides the most assists in the top-five European leagues – the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1.
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There are no coefficients or scales used for these leagues – just ranking the most goals created by each player in the top-five leagues condensed into a single table.
We will also track the players who produce the most assists in each of those five divisions individually, so stay tuned to this page for the latest standings throughout the campaign.
MOST ASSISTS IN EUROPE 2021/22
Thomas Müller still leads the race to be crowned the most creative player in Europe, but Lionel Messi is the player making the most rapid progress.
Bayern forward Müller has the most assists in Europe’s top five leagues with 16 for the Bundesliga season as he seeks a historic third straight European Assists King title.
However, the German’s pace had slowed of late even before he missed the most recent match against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Müller now sits just five assists clear of Sassuolo standout Domenico Berardi, who leads the Serie A charts with 11.
Kylian Mbappe has the same total as Berardi so he also sits in striking distance of Müller, but it is the magical Messi who is attracting the most attention for his assists of late.
Messi has registered an assist in five consecutive Ligue 1 matches.
He had two assists for Mbappe in Saturday’s 3-1 home win over Saint-Étienne, moving him up to six goals created in that five-game span and into double figures for the season.
Since the start of 2022, Messi has more assists (six) than any other player in the top five European leagues.
Messi has now surpassed the total of nine assists he got in his last season at Barcelona.
He has always had a creative streak, reaching an incredible 20 assists in the 2019/20 season, when he narrowly missed out on this crown to Müller (21).
Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold are level with Messi on 10, as is Florian Wirtz, so there is plenty of competition towards the top.
Karim Benzema and Oscar Trejo are in a tie for the assists lead in LaLiga with nine goals created each.
2021/22 European Assist Kings
Who had the most assists in previous seasons?
2020/21: Thomas Müller, Bayern (19 assists)
2019/20: Thomas Müller, Bayern (21 assists)
2018/19: Eden Hazard, Chelsea (15 assists)
2017/18: Kevin De Bruyne, Man City (16 assists)
Thomas Müller has been named the European Assists King in each of the last two seasons (2019/20 and 2020/21), as he recorded 40 assists across those campaigns in the Bundesliga.
The Bayern star finished five assists clear of joint runners-up Harry Kane and Filip Kostic last season, with 19 goals created in total.
Premier League Golden Boot: Current standings and past winners
Iago Aspas (13) had the most assists in La Liga last season, while Ruslan Malinovskiy and Memphis Depay (both 12) topped the assist charts in Serie A and Ligue 1 respectively.
Muller’s first crown came when he had 21 assists to only just beat Lionel Messi, who had 20 in La Liga 2019/20 for Barcelona. Kevin De Bruyne was another to narrowly miss out after he also set up 20 goals and topped the Premier League charts.
The award for most creative player in Europe in 2018/19 went to Eden Hazard. He had 15 assists for Chelsea, meaning he narrowly beat Jadon Sancho (14) and Ryan Fraser (14) to the award.
De Bruyne had the most assists in Europe during 2017/18. He created 16 goals for his Man City team-mates. Leroy Sane (15), Dimitri Payet (14) and Luis Alberto (14) all narrowly missed out.
What is an assist?
An assist in football is usually credited to the player who plays the final pass or cross before a goal is scored. A player may receive recognition for creating a goal by being awarded an assist even if the pass or touch they have made to set up the goalscorer is unintentional.
There can be slight differences in how assists are recorded and allocated depending on the criteria of each official competition. For example, if a player’s pass towards a goalscorer takes a deflection on its way to the intended target, an assist is often not credited. A player who wins a penalty that is then scored does not usually get an assist either.
As well as a recognised official statistic, assists are often important in fantasy football games and betting markets.