Champions League power rankings: Barcelona and Juventus out, PSG and Napoli hit top form

MVPs drop out of Europe 

With one match day left of the Champions League group stages, the competition is already making short work of under-performing teams and as a result a number of Europe’s biggest stars have been eliminated from the tournament in dramatic fashion. And the most significant drop outs seem to come from the Spanish top-flight. 

Following a 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich, Xavi’s star-studded Barcelona side will now be confined to another season in the Europa League. Which means that Europe’s top tournament will be without its fourth most valuable player in Pedri, who has a current market value of €90 million. However, the young Spaniard wasn’t the only MVP that has unexpectedly dropped out of the competition. 

Juventus were equally as disappointing in Group H, where they have managed to pick up just three points from five games and now risk finishing last in the group, following an embarrassing 2-0 defeat to Maccabi Haifa. Not only does this confirm that Massimiliano Allegri’s side are well and truly out of the competition, but it also means that star striker Dušan Vlahović – the ninth most valuable player in the competition – will also no longer be plying his trade in the Champions League this season. 

The best forward’s in this season’s Champions League

Fortunately for football fans, there are still plenty of stars in the competition and a number of them have enjoyed very impressive starts to their European campaigns. And in particular, a number of clubs have racked up huge goalscoring records in a short period of time. None more so than Paris Saint-Germain, who can lay claim to two of the three top forwards in the competition so far this season. 

Indeed, Kylian Mbappé is living up to his title of being the competition’s most valuable player by bagging no less than six goals and two assists in just five games for the Ligue 1 giants, while Lionel Messi is just behind him with four goals and three assists. Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah currently sits level with his Argentine counterpart, with six goals and one assist. 

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the season has come in the form of Napoli, who have stormed to the top of Group A with five wins from five and 20 goals scored along the way. As such, the Serie A side can lay claim to two of the top 10 forwards in the competition, as Giacomo Raspadori sits on four goals and two assists and Piotr Zielinski has three goals and two assists in five games. 

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