BARCELONA Messi, Pjanic or Neymar? Top 15 free-kick scorers of last five years

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Messi, Pjanic or Neymar? Top 15 free-kick scorers of last five years



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The Barcelona and Juventus stars bring an extra dimension to their teams' play with a stunning talent for converting even the most difficult attempts
It is a testament to Lionel Messi's ability with the dead ball that any free-kick on the edge of the opposition area has Barcelona fans on the edge of their seats ready to celebrate.
The Argentine is one of the world's top exponents of one of football's trickiest arts, and just seems to be getting better in that respect, as he showed with two stunning efforts to down Espanyol in a one-sided derby victory for the Catalans last weekend.
It was the first time the Blaugrana captain had ever netted two in the same game and took his overall Liga tally to 19 since 2013-14.

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However, Messi, who honed his technique under the legendary Diego Maradona, is far from the only dead-ball specialist in the game right now. 
Indeed, Juventus alone have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to free-kick takers, with Cristiano Ronaldo's summer arrival at the club having only added to their remarkably long list of options.
The Portuguese now battles for the ball with Miralem Pjanic and Paulo Dybala every time the Bianconeri earn a free in a dangerous position. 
In fact, Serie A has no lack of talent from dead-ball situations. Milan's Hakan Calhanoglu too is every bit a match for Pjanic, and is currently tied with Juve's Bosnian maestro for free-kick goals over the last five seasons in Europe's 'Big Five' leagues.
No.PlayerCurrent ClubFree-kick Goals
1Lionel MessiBarcelona19
2Miralem Pjanic Juventus12
3Hakan CalhanogluMilan12
4Paulo DybalaJuventus9
5Daniel WassValencia8
6Daniel ParejoValencia8
7Aleksandr KolarovRoma7
8Cristiano RonaldoJuventus7
9Juan MataManchester United6
10Enis BardhiLevante6
11James RodriguezBayern6
12Marvin PlattenhardtHertha6
13NeymarPSG6
14Andrea PirloRetired6
15Alexis SanchezManchester United6
A little further down the list we find Neymar, who, it is somewhat surprising to learn, has only punished six fouls in La Liga and Ligue 1since arriving in Europe from Santos in 2013. 
Although, as an interesting aside, it seems the Brazilian saves his best efforts for Europe: no player, not even Messi, can match his sparkling Champions League record of five free-kick goals from just 17 attempts. 

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