Neymar, Messi, Ronaldinho, Beckham: The player with the most CL assists in every season | OneFootball

Angel Di Maria moved to second in the all-time list of Champions League assist providers on Wednesday.

By way of setting up Adrien Rabiot’s brace and Dusan Vlahovic’s goal against Maccabi Haifa this week, Di Maria usurped his compatriot Lionel Messi with a head-spinning 38 assists in UEFA’s premier competition.

According to the tournament’s official website, Di Maria’s hat-trick of assists for Juventus means that he’s now breathing down the neck of Cristiano Ronaldo who occupies first place having laid on 42 goals.

Di Maria makes Champions League history

It's an incredible achievement for one of the most underrated players of his generation because any statistic where you're separating Ronaldo and Messi is truly one to be celebrated.

However, Di Maria's feat got us hungry for more information on the most creative players in Champions League history and specifically the question: which player tops the assists charts in each season?

A Golden Boot for assist providing, if you will, which showcases who dominated Europe's leading competition for men's club football across several eras dating back to its foundation in 1992.

Assists in the Champions League

But in the absence of season-by-season breakdowns on the official Champions League stats hub, we had to pivot our search to the data gurus at Transfermarkt.

There, we could deep-dive into the numbers from each and every season since the competition's rebranding to see who finished up with the most assists along the way.

The caveat we must stress, however, is that Transfermarkt does hold a different definition of assists to the one upheld by the likes of Opta and seemingly the Champions League itself.

As confirmed by fellow data aficionados Squawka in 2020, the Transfermarkt definition is a little looser with the likes of rebounded shots, penalties won and own goal assists included in their totals.

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A nice easy start...

Dwight Yorke Teddy Sheringham

Who has the most assists in every Champions League season?

So, if you see the odd discrepancy that runs contrary to the numbers that you've become used to, then now you know why because the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Ryan Giggs most certainly have their totals enhanced by the different criteria.

Nevertheless, as long as you apply that pinch of salt accordingly and keep it in the back of your mind, then we can crack on with who Transfermarkt sees as each Champions League season's most prolific assist provider of all:

1992/93: Rudi Voller (Marseille) - 6

1993/94: Dejan Savićević (AC Milan) - 5

1994/95: Erik Wahlstedt (IFK Goteborg) - 4

1995/96: Stefan Reuter (Borussia Dortmund), Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers), Angelo Di Livio (Juventus), Gianluca Vialli (Juventus) and Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) - 3

1996/97: Zinedine Zidane (Juventus) - 6

1997/98: Zinedine Zidane (Juventus) - 7

1998/99: Dwight Yorke and David Beckham (Manchester United) - 8

1999/00: Luis Figo (Barcelona) - 8

2000/01: Luis Figo (Real Madrid) - 9

2001/02: Juan Sebastián Verón (Manchester United), Ze Roberto (Bayer Leverkusen), Hasan Salihamidžić (Bayern Munich), Yildiray Bastürk (Bayer Leverkusen), Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid), Bernd Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen) and David Beckham (Manchester United) - 5

2002/03: Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid) - 7

2003/04: Deco (FC Porto) - 10

2004/05: Kaka (AC Milan) and Damien Duff (Chelsea) - 6

2005/06: Johan Micoud (Werder Bremen) and Ronaldinho (Barcelona) - 5

2006/07: Ryan Giggs (Manchester United) - 8

2007/08: Alex (Fenerbahce) - 6

2008/09: Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Xavi (Barcelona) and Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) - 7

2009/10: Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan) - 6

2010/11: Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid) and Andres Iniesta (Barcelona) - 7

2011/12: Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich) - 8

2012/13: Mario Gotze (Borussia Dortmund) - 8

2013/14: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) - 8

2014/15: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 6

2015/16: Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich) - 6

2016/17: Neymar (Barcelona) - 9

2017/18: James Milner (Liverpool) and Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) - 8

2018/19: Luis Suarez (Barcelona), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) and Dusan Tadic (Ajax) - 5

2019/20: Angel Di Maria (Paris Saint-Germain) - 7

2020/21: Juan Cuadrado (Juventus) - 6

2021/22: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) and Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) - 7

2022/23: Joao Cancelo (Manchester City) - 4

A long list of legends - but no Ronaldo

Very interesting indeed.

It's intriguing to note that although Ronaldo is still the Champions League's all-time leading assist provider by Transfermarkt's reckoning - with an amplified total of 48, no less - that he never actually comes out on top in a single season.

Rather, Zidane shines as the standout performer of the 1990s during his Juventus peak, before Figo shows his Ballon d'Or-winning form around the turn of the century and then icons such as Neymar, Suarez and Rooney get amongst it.

And while UEFA crowned Milner of all people as the man with the most assists in a single season under the current format back in 2018, it's actually Deco who takes the applause under these rules as the only player to reach double figures.

However, no matter how you define your assists, using Di Maria's latest masterclass as an excuse to delve deep into the history of Champions League playmakers is certainly a fascinating journey.