Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar: The best assists-per-goal records in La Liga since 2000 | OneFootball

Lionel Messi is as famous for assisting goals as he is for scoring them.

Throughout the course of his incredible career, the little magician has racked up assists for fun.

His ability to create goalscoring opportunities aplenty for teammates is part of the reason why many believe he is the greatest footballer in history.

Messi holds the record for the most assists recorded in a single La Liga season after notching 21 in 2019/20, surpassing the total of 20 former Barcelona teammate Xavi Hernandez accrued in 2008/09.

Overall in the Spanish top-flight, Messi assisted a whopping 192 goals in his 520 appearances.

That’s a quite astonishing return for a player who also scored 474 times in the competition.

But despite assisting close to 200 goals, Messi doesn’t possess the best assists-per-game record in La Liga since 2000.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has to settle for third-place in that regard, with two former Real Madrid players sitting ahead of him on PopFoot‘s list.

Neither of them is Cristiano Ronaldo, though…

The 20 players with the best assists-per-game ratios in La Liga since 2000

20. Xavi Hernandez (0.22)

Games: 505 | Assists: 111

19. Gareth Bale (0.23)

Games: 175 | Assists: 40

18. Juan Mata (0.23)

Games: 129 | Assists: 30

17. Toni Kroos (0.24)

Games: 237 | Assists: 56

16. Thierry Henry (0.24)

Games: 80 | Assists: 19

15. Dani Alves (0.24)

Games: 429 | Assists: 103

14. Ousmane Dembele (0.26)

Games: 94 | Assists: 24

13. Ronaldinho (0.26)

Games: 145 | Assists: 38

12. Karim Benzema (0.27)

Games: 409 | Assists: 110

11. Alexis Sanchez (0.27)

Games: 88 | Assists: 24

10. Luis Suarez (0.29)

Games: 252 | Assists: 74

9. Neymar (0.31)

Games: 123 | Assists: 38

8. Zinedine Zidane (0.32)

Games: 155 | Assists: 50

7. Luis Figo (0.32)

Games: 164 | Assists: 53

6. Cristiano Ronaldo (0.33)

Games: 292 | Assists: 96

5. James Rodriguez (0.33)

Games: 85 | Assists: 28

4. Cesc Fabregas (0.33)

Games: 96 | Assists: 32

3. Lionel Messi (0.37)

Games: 520 | Assists: 192

2. Angel Di Maria (0.40)

Games: 122 | Assists: 49

1. Mesut Ozil (0.45)

Games: 105 | Assists: 47

Ozil, take a bow. There’s a reason why the German is still often referred to as the ‘Assist King’.

You’ll be hard pushed to find a 20-man list that features more modern day footballing legends than the one above, that’s for sure.

Unsurprisingly, it’s also dominated by players that spent the majority of their La Liga careers at either Barcelona or Real Madrid.