Messi, the world’s best forward in 2015; Cristiano down in 29th

Lionel Messi has been the best forward of the first three months of 2015. Although many people have come to this conclusion, this belief has been endorsed and confirmed by the CIES Football Observatory, an organisation supported by FIFA.

The clear improvement the Barça star has shown during the first few months of the year – he has netted no fewer than 20 goals since New Year's Day – has helped him to place himself at the top of a ranking that provides many surprises.

The study is based on the influence that strikers have in their teams’ play, not just on the goals that they score. Distribution of play, ball recovery and chances created are some of the other scales of measurement.

The only players who come close to the Argentinian are Arjen Robben and Bas Dost, who are both Dutch and based in the Bundesliga. The winger and the forward have been key for their respective teams this year – the latter, who plays for Wolfsburg, has scored 11 goals in the first three months.

Cristiano Ronaldo features significantly lower down on the list. The Portuguese suffered a slump in January, and he has not yet finished recovering from it. He has only struck six times since the turn of the year and he has barely been a decisive player for Real Madrid. Therefore, the former Manchester United man finds himself in 29^th place in the study.

1º Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) - 100 points

2º Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich) - 92 points

3º Bas Dost (Wolfsburg) - 77 points

4º Luis Suárez (FC Barcelona) - 71 points

5º Diego Costa (Chelsea) - 61 points

6º Harry Kane (Tottenham) - 57 points

7º Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund) - 57 points

8º Lucas Barrios (Montpellier) - 56 points

9º Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund) - 55 points

10º Christophe Mandanne (Guingamp) - 54 points

11º Antoine Griezmann (Atlético) - 52 points

12º Neymar Junior (FC Barcelona) - 51 points

13º Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) - 51 points

14º Carlos Bacca (Sevilla) - 51 points

15º Éder Martins (Sampdoria) - 50 points

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