The attacking trio has become a key player in the superiority of many teams.
Football and its modern plans rely heavily on attacking tries, especially with players with different characteristics in each team, ensuring diversity in attacking ideas and creating opportunities.
During the last decade, from 2012 to 2022, we saw a number of attacking trios that really made a difference in their clubs, and were a disaster for the defenders of the last clubs.
Perhaps one of the most prominent attacking trios in recent years has been the one formed in English club Liverpool, bringing together Egyptian Mohamed Salah, Senegalese Sadio Mane and Brazilian Roberto Firmino.
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This interesting attacking trio was formed in the summer of 2017, when Mohamed Salah from Rome, Italy, arrived at the “Anfield” stadium to complete the attacking triangle in the team of the German coach, Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool’s attacking trio, after five seasons of brilliance, success and championships, finally disintegrated after Mane’s decision to leave for Bayern Munich.
The Liverpool trio have brought back memories of two of the most brilliant attacking trios of the past decade, related to the “MSN” trio at FC Barcelona, and the “BBC” trio at Real Madrid.
The Barcelona trio, consisting of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar da Silva, formed in the summer of 2014 when the Uruguayan joined Camp Nou.
The trio disintegrated in the summer of 2017, when Neymar moved to Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth 222 million euros.
The Real Madrid trio, which consisted of Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, was formed in the summer of 2013 when the Welshman joined the Royal Club.
While this trio disintegrated in the summer of 2018, when the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Juventus, in a deal estimated at around 100 million euros.
Liverpool’s impressive trio have always been compared to the attacking lines of Real Madrid and Barcelona, led by “BBC” and “MSN”, respectively.
The comparison of each trio’s numbers may not be entirely fair, given the different playing methods used on each team, and the individual characteristics of the players.
“MSN” the trio of understanding
The term of the “MSN” trio in Barcelona did not last more than three seasons, from 2014 to 2017, but it was truly a terrifying trio for all competitors.
Barcelona scored during that historic triple period by winning the Spanish League, Champions League and King’s Cup in the 2014-15 season.
The “MSN” trio took part in 181 matches with Barcelona, and the team won 138 of them, with a percentage of 76.2%.
The trio together scored 519 goals, Messi scored 153 goals, Suarez 121 and Neymar 90 goals.
What was exciting about this trio was the great understanding on the field, and the self-denial in many cases, to the point where you find that Messi assigns penalties to Suarez or Neymar in the event that one of them is absent from a few points time.
“BBC” The Integrated Trio
The Real Madrid attacking trio from 2013 to 2018 were truly complementary, especially in terms of complementing each other’s shortcomings.
Benzema played the role of the first engine of operations, dragging the defense and clearing spaces ahead of Ronaldo first and Bale second.
The Madeira rocket was a relentless scoring machine, both from set pieces and from complex matches.
The BBC trio played 293 matches with Real Madrid, 210 of which were won by the royal team, with a victory rate of more than 70%.
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While Real Madrid in that period managed to score 784 goals, which is equivalent to about three goals per game.
Remarkably, the BBC trio managed to score 442 goals out of that total, or 65.3%.
What is wrong with this trilogy was that Benzema wasted many opportunities in many cases, and also Ronaldo’s excessive selfishness.
Salah, Firmino, Mane .. the contradictory trio
The Liverpool attacking trio has been a source of great concern to all the clubs the “Reds” have encountered in recent seasons, especially due to the trio’s tremendous ability to push from the front, exploit half spaces and round off attacks .
The Liverpool trio gave the Reds the English Premier League title in the 2019-’20 season after a 30-year wait, and the team also won the Champions League in the 2018-’19 season after years of absence , along with a number of other titles.
But most of the criticism leveled against this trio was excessive selfishness and showmanship, especially by Salah and Mane, unlike Firmino who always tried to benefit the team’s interest.
By calculating each player individually, the Liverpool trio played 730 games with the “Reds” appearing mainly in 640 games, and 90 games as substitutes.
Together, the trio scored 338 goals, including 24 penalties, and delivered 155 goals.
Who is the best trio?
In terms of goals and influence, each of the previous trios has had a clear role in the tournaments their clubs have achieved during their term.
But perhaps most important of the goals and championships was the understanding on and off the field, which the “MSN” trio possessed, and it is enough to find that Messi and Suarez’s friendship continued for many years, as well as their relationship with Neymar is very good.
Perhaps the relationship between Messi and Neymar that helped Argentina accept the move to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2021.
The good relationship between the “MSN” trio from the field was clearly reflected on the field, and was an influential factor in the trio’s understanding and the amazing goals they scored together.