The new UEFA rankings tool has been in use since the start of the year, and James Milner is ranked higher than Paul Pogba.
Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo is ranked first on the list
Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has topped a new performance-based points system introduced by UEFA, as reported by Sky Sports.
The rankings table was introduced in January, and is used as a barometer for player performance, using statistical analysis of form for club and country to decipher who are the most in-form players on the continent.
Amazingly, Liverpool’s James Milner is the highest ranking Englishman on the list, ahead of world stars such as Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski and Toni Kroos.
Liverpool’s James Milner ranked higher than some of the continents most sought-after stars
Dimitri Payet is the highest ranking Premier League player on the list, coming in at a very impressive fourth. The complete top ten is listed below:
UEFA’s Euro 2016 barometer – top 10
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
3. Antoine Griezmann
4. Dimitri Payet
5. James Milner
6. Saul Niguez
7. Koke
8. Sergio Ramos
9. Toni Kroos
10. Juanfran
Incredibly, sixth-placed Saul Niguez of Atletico Madrid did not even make Spain’s squad for Euro 2016.
Paul Pogba came in at 16th on the list
While it would be hard to argue against the top three on the list, the likes of Milner and Juanfran being ranked higher than Gareth Bale and Paul Pogba makes a slight mockery of the statistics based system. Milner’s seven assists in four games throughout April would have heavily weighed in the Liverpool man’s favour, as the more recent the match, the higher the weighting assigned to the data.
Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski ranked a lowly 38th
Dele Alli was England’s second highest ranked player at 14th on the list, while Wayne Rooney just made the top 100, coming in at 98th.
Click here for a list of notable omissions from the top ten, via Sky Sports.
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