The start of the season has been marked by the near-perfect understanding between Lionel Messi, the leader in assists (6), and Kylian Mbappé, the leader in goals (7), for Paris Saint-Germain, the former having already provided the latter with four goals in Ligue 1 Uber Eats. This confirms the affinity between the two Parisian stars, with Messi having provided 11 of his 20 assists to Mbappé in the French top flight.

A fine pair

Among the best attacking duos in Ligue 1 Uber Eats, the one composed by these two strikers has already proved to be one of the most effective since the 2007-2008 season, with a total of 15 cumulative assists, counting the Frenchman's four assists for the Argentine. All this in only 28 matches played together in the league (2243 minutes).

On the historical balance sheet, the pair are in sixth position, just one behind the newly reconstituted Laborde/Delort duo at OGC Nice, who have played 94 games together, and still at a distance from the leaders Neymar and Kylian Mbappé (two assists this season from the Brazilian for the Frenchman). The latter two have exchanged 31 assists in 75 games for Paris.

Number of assists exchanged by duos (since 2007-08):
1. Neymar and Kylian Mbappé (PSG): 31 assists (14-17)
2. Angel Di Maria and Edinson Cavani (PSG): 21 assists (17-4)
3. Angel Di Maria and Kylian Mbappé (PSG): 19 assists (17-2)
4. Morgan Amalfitano and Kevin Gameiro (FC Lorient): 17 assists (14-3)
5. Andy Delort and Gaëtan Laborde (MHSC): 16 assists (8-8)
6. Mbappé and Messi (PSG): 15 assists (4-11)
7. Memphis Depay and Houssem Aouar (OL): 14 assists (6-8)
8. -. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani (PSG): 13 assists (10-3)
9. Yoann Gourcuff and Marouane Chamakh (Bordeaux): 12 assists (10-2)
-. Dimtiri Payet and Florian Thauvin (OM): 12 assists (8-4)
-. Eden Hazard and Gervinho (LOSC): 12 assists (8-4)

Assists... but also passes

In addition, Léo Messi and Kylian Mbappé are - unsurprisingly - two players who often look for each other on the pitch. This is in contrast to Di Maria/Cavani (PSG, 5.5 passes exchanged on average per match) and Laborde/Delort (5.9). The two players have been exchanging an average of 15.3 passes per game since last season. But that doesn't stop them from serving up an assist every 25 passes. Among the best pairings in this domain, they are beaten only by the duo of Neymar and... Mbappé (20 passes/game on average).

As for effectiveness, the Mbappé-Messi duo is the one that shares the most assists per minute of playing time together, with an offering every 150 minutes. Here again, it is another Parisian duo that comes in second place, with the Mbappé-Neymar partnership (1 assist every 179 minutes).

Joint playing time/assists ratios (since 2007-08):
Messi-Mbappé: 1 assist every 150 minutes
Neymar-Mbappé: 1 assist every 179 minutes
Di Maria-Cavani: 1 assist every 309 minutes
Di Maria-Mbappé: 1 assist every 338 minutes
Gourcuff-Chamakh: 1 assist every 349 minutes
Ibrahimovic-Cavani: 1 assist every 364 minutes
Hazard-Gervinho: 1 assist every 366 minutes
Aouar-Depay: 1 assist every 369 minutes
Delort-Laborde: 1 assist every 467 minutes