Who was the best player in front of the goal in 2018? Were Messi and Ronaldo finally dethroned from the top by someone else?
Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo might not have won the Ballon d’Or this year, but the duo was still dominant in front of the goal and it is safe to say that their dominance is nowhere near over. But 2018 was also about new superstars who set the stage on fire.
So let us take a look at five best forwards of 2018.
5. Kylian Mbappe:
If I had to pick one player who impressed me the most in 2018, it has to be Kylian Mbappe. The Frenchman wasn’t the highest goal scorer of 2018 or could not help PSG win the Champions League, but the things he achieved at the age of 19, are simply astonishing.
The youngster finished 2017-18 with 13 goals and 8 assists in PSG’s league triumph. But it was really the football carnival in Russia where the beast was unleashed. Mbappe dazzled the world with his pace and tricks and made his opponents, some of them veterans of the game, look absolutely silly while defending. He finished with 4 goals in the World Cup.
Two of them came against Argentina, where he almost singlehandedly killed Messi’s hopes of winning the World Cup. Mbappe also scored one in the final and was rightly awarded the ‘Best Young Player’.
Mbappe has continued to light up the French football with already 13 goals in the league this season and three in the Champions League. And if his Ballon d’Or rankings of the last two years are anything to go by, that kid is taking that trophy home in the next couple of years.
And lastly, his achievements are not impressive because he is so young, they are actually frightening because of what he can achieve when he is at the peak. Wherever he goes after PSG (which he will), rival fans will be scared!
