La Liga and English Premier League dominate Castrol Player Rankings
The Castrol Football Ranking is the authoritative word in European Football Rankings as it is certified by UEFA as the official ranking of the European organisation.
As the latest rankings were released by Castrol just over a day ago, once again the top 20 places are overwhelmingly dominated by the Spanish La Liga and English Premier League.
Despite the criticism by pundits, English Premier League remains the best league in the world as the rankings once again proved that the richest league in the world also has the best players playing in it.
One surprise is the fact that EPL has no representative in the top 3 of the rankings as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain are sitting pretty at the top.
The highest ranked English player in the rankings is the Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, who despite his recent injury is still 4th.
Premier League has 8 players in the top 20 while La Liga accounts for 7, Bundesliga for 4 and just Zalatan Ibrahimovic from the Italian Serie A.
The highest rising player in the rankings is Tottenham Hotspur's hotshot, Rafael Van Der Vaart who was at a lowly 1084 in the rankings in January but since his move to England in the summer and on the back of his stellar performances in the league, he has
shot to the 7th place.
Surprisingly, there still is no place for Gareth Bale. The other two new entries in the top 20 from EPL are Carlos Tevez and Luis Almeida De Cunha aka Nani of Manchester United.
Tevez has scored more goals in the last 12 months than any other player playing in England with a staggering 28 from 36 matches while Nani also has shone brightly for Sir Alex’s side.
All of La Liga's 7 representatives come from only two sides, Barcelona and Real Madrid while all 7 of them can be seen in action in this month’s El Classico.
Higuain, who just edges Rooney to the third spot, has scored 29 goals in 35 matches in the last 12 months and is fast closing the gap on Ronaldo with the difference less than 100 points.
The best placed defender in the rankings is Dani Alves of Barcelona, closely followed by Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid in 13th place.
The top placed player from German Bundesliga is Arjen Robben of Bayern Munich while the other three are Luas Barrios (Borrusia Dortmund ) in 8th, Ivica Olic (Bayern Munich) in 12th and Mat Hummels in 16th place.
Surprisingly, there is no goalkeeper in the top 20. The list is as follows:
RANK
PLAYER
POSITION
CLUB
CASTROL RANKINGS POINTS
1
LIONEL MESSI
FW
BARCELONA
1,207
2
CRISTIANO RONALDO
FW
REAL MADRID
1,023
3
GONZALO HIGUAÍN
FW
REAL MADRID
909
4
WAYNE ROONEY
FW
MANCHESTER UNITED
900
5
ARJEN ROBBEN
MF
FC BAYERN MÜNCHEN
895
6
FRANK LAMPARD
MF
CHELSEA
890
7
RAFAEL VAN DER VAART
MF
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
857
8
LUCAS BARRIOS
FW
BORUSSIA DORTMUND
837
9
DIDIER DROGBA
FW
CHELSEA
832
9
FLORENT MALOUDA
MF
CHELSEA
832
11
DANI ALVES
DF
BARCELONA
830
12
IVICA OLIC
FW
FC BAYERN MÜNCHEN
829
13
SERGIO RAMOS
DF
REAL MADRID
814
14
DAVID VILLA
FW
BARCELONA
813
15
ALEX
DF
CHELSEA
812
16
MATS HUMMELS
DF
BORUSSIA DORTMUND
811
17
MARCELO
DF
REAL MADRID
803
18
NANI
MF
MANCHESTER UNITED
795
18
CARLOS TÉVEZ
FW
MANCHESTER CITY
795
20
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC
FW
MILAN
786
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