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Cristiano Ronaldo LEFT OUT of best Serie A XI… but Chelsea flop makes cut
CRISTIANO RONALDO has enjoyed a stellar season since moving to Juventus in the summer, but the Portuguese ace is not among the best performing Serie A players in 2019 according to new data.
Ronaldo raised eyebrows when he opted to leave Real Madrid for Juventus at the end of last season, but the Portuguese ace looks right at home in Serie A.
The 34-year-old has 24 goals across all competitions, with 19 of those coming in the league as Juve streak clear at the top of the table.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side are 15 points ahead of Napoli with 10 matches remaining of the current campaign and look certain to scoop their eighth consecutive Scudetto title.
Ronaldo has been a driving force behind this success, with the Portuguese talisman also providing 10 assists since his arrival in Turin.
However, the Juventus forward is not considered among the best performing Serie A players since the turn of the year according to new research – while Chelsea midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko surprisingly is.
Bakayoko is on loan at Milan this season and the Serie A side have a £30m option to sign him permanently in the summer.
CIES Football Observatory have developed a unique algorithm to measure the technical performance of players based on on-field statistics, using this to highlight the best players over the past 1000 minutes of action.
Only taking into account players fielded for at least 630 minutes since January 1, the research has produced starting line-ups for the top five European leagues.
Ronaldo’s arch-rival Lionel Messi headlines the La Liga side while Liverpool and Manchester City dominate the Premier League XI – but which Serie A players have stood out in 2019?
Serie A best XI since January 1 – CIES Football Observatory
GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan)
RB: Cristian Ansaldi (Torino)
CB: Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)
CB: Daniele Rugani (Juventus)
LB: Timothy Castagne (Atalanta)
CM: Piotr Zielinski (Napoli)
CM: Tiemoue Bakayoko (AC Milan)
CM: Josip Ilicic (Atalanta)
RW: Alejandro Gomez (Atalanta)
LW: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria)
ST: Duvan Zapata (Atalanta)