Messi, Neymar, Mbappe: Who was the highest-scoring front three of 2021/22? | OneFootball

Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar looked to have formed one of the most devastating front threes ever assembled when they came together last summer.

With Paris Saint-Germain completing football’s answer to the Harlem Globetrotters with the acquisition of Messi from Barcelona, the French giants looked set to plunder goals by the dozen.

However, while PSG by no means endured a terrible season, there’s no denying that their accomplishments finished comfortably short of what their assets on paper would make you think that they should achieve.

Messi, Mbappe and Neymar vs other front threes

Besides, you’d think that the Messi-Mbappe-Neymar triumvirate would harvest more than just a Ligue 1 triumph, Coupe de France elimination and a round of 16 exit in the Champions League.

Marry that to the fact that Messi’s struggles to find the net consistently since swapping Camp Nou for the Parc des Princes are well publicised and it’s easy to see why there’s currently a downbeat mood at the club.

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But in spite of all of the above, PSG’s star-studded trio nonetheless ranked highly amongst the most prolific front threes across the 2021/22 season.

Yes, that’s right, it’s clearly not been all misery and disappointment with Transfermarkt’s data unveiling them as Europe’s fourth-most prolific front line of the last nine months.

With data taken from Europe’s top five leagues, cup competitions, the Champions League and Europa League, there are only three clubs whose three highest scorers come together to total more than PSG’s amalgamation of 63 strikes.

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Highest-scoring front threes

So, be sure to check out which front three managed to outdo Messi, Neymar and Mbappe, as well as the full top 20 at the time of writing, by perusing the full data down below:

=19. Atalanta – 41 goals

Mario Pasalic (14), Luis Muriel (14) and Duvan Zapata (13)

=19. Marseille – 41 goals

Arkadiusz Milik (16), Dimitri Payet (13) and Cengiz Ünder (12)

=19. Sassuolo – 41 goals

Gianluca Scamacca (16), Domenico Berardi (15) and Giacomo Raspadori (10)

=17. Leicester City – 42 goals

Jamie Vardy (17), James Maddison (15) and Patson Daka (10)

=17. West Ham United – 42 goals

Jarrod Bowen (18), Michail Antonio (13) and Said Benrahma (11)

=15. Napoli – 44 goals

Victor Osimhen (18), Lorenzo Insigne (13) and Dries Mertens (13)

=15. Stade Rennais – 44 goals

Martin Terrier (21), Gaëtan Laborde (12) and Benjamin Bourigeaud (11)

14. Tottenham Hotspur – 49 goals

Heung-min Son (23), Harry Kane (21) and Dejan Kulusevski (5)

13. Real Betis – 50 goals

Juanmi (20), Borja Iglesias (19) and Willian Jose (11)

=10. Borussia Dortmund – 51 goals

Erling Haaland (29), Marco Reus (13) and Donyell Malen (9)

=10. Bayer Leverkusen – 51 goals

Patrik Schick (24), Moussa Diaby (17) and Florian Wirtz (10)

=10. Lyon – 51 goals

Moussa Dembele (22), Karl Toko Ekambi (18) and Lucas Paqueta (11)

9. Inter Milan – 52 goals

Lautaro Martinez (25), Edin Dzeko (17) and Ivan Perisic (10)

8. Lazio – 53 goals

Ciro Immobile (32), Sergej Milinković-Savić (11) and Pedro (10)

7. AS Monaco – 56 goals

Wissam Ben Yedder (32), Kevin Volland (15) and Sofiane Diop (9)

6. Manchester City – 60 goals

Riyad Mahrez (23), Kevin De Bruyne (19) and Raheem Sterling (17)

=4. Paris Saint-Germain – 63 goals

Kylian Mbappe (39), Neymar (13) and Lionel Messi (11)

=4. RB Leipzig – 63 goals

Christopher Nkunku (35), Andre Silva (17) and Emil Forsberg (11)

3. Liverpool – 75 goals

Mohamed Salah (31), Sadio Mane (23) and Diogo Jota (21)

2. Real Madrid – 77 goals

Karim Benzema (44), Vinicius Junior (21) and Marco Asensio (12)

1. Bayern Munich – 81 goals

Robert Lewandowski (50), Serge Gnabry (17) and Leroy Sane (14)

A solid result for Messi, Mbappe and Neymar

It’s not all so bad, right?

After all, we dread to think where the PSG trio might have placed if Messi and Neymar had reached the goalscoring tallies that we’re used to them achieving as opposed to just 13 and 11 strikes respectively.

Nevertheless, they would really need to slam their foot on the accelerator pedal if they were going to get anywhere near a Bayern triumvirate spearheaded by the infinitely-lethal Lewandowski.

And to think that Liverpool have achieved their own eye-watering total of 75 goals without even Luis Diaz or Roberto Firmino being factored in just about sums up why they were chasing the quadruple.

Similarly, their Champions League final opponents, Real, are sitting pretty on the podium with Vinicius and Benzema ranking as the highest-scoring duo of forwards in the 2021/22 season.

And you know the competition is tough when huge clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, AC Milan, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are nowhere to be seen.

So, sure, it’s not been all sunshine and rainbows for Messi, Mbappe and Neymar this season, but they’ve still laid down a solid foundation that they can build upon during their second campaign together. Be warned.

De Jong to Man Utd Advancing (Football Terrace)