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, though his numbers are slowing down at a pivotal stage of the campaign.
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 32-year-old’s pace had slowed of late and his last league assist came back on January 15.
Bayern won 4-0 against Union Berlin on Saturday with Muller starting the contest.
But despite the team’s success it was the seventh consecutive Bundesliga appearance for Müller without registering an assist.
The experienced attacker still goes into the International break with a lead of five over his closest rivals Kylian Mbappe, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Karim Benzema
PSG slumped to defeat at Monaco without scoring as top Ligue 1 creator Mbappe failed to add to his tally, while Primera Division assists leader Benzema missed Real Madrid’s damaging 4-0 El Clasico defeat to Barcelona.
Ousmane Dembele had two assists in that game for Barca, taking him up to nine for the season in La Liga.
The winger is finding form at the right time, having also registered two assists in Barcelona’s clash with Osasuna on March 13.
Alexander-Arnold, who has the most goals created in the Premier League, did not register an assist as Liverpool beat Arsenal in the Premier League before turning their attention to FA Cup matters at the weekend.
Andrew Robertson, though, became the third Liverpool player, along with Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah (10), to reach double figures for assists this season by creating a goal in that Arsenal game.
Domenico Berardi has set up the most goals in Serie A with 10, but while he has impressively scored four goals in his last three matches, he does not have an assist during that span, meaning he has not cut the gap to Muller.
In Ligue 1, Benjamin Bourigeaud had three assists in the same game as Stade Rennais thrashed Metz 6-1, making him the third player after Mbappe and Lionel Messi (10) to reach double figures for goals created in France.
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.