It's hard to judge whether or not a Man of the Match award should add to a player's reputation. After all, in the Premier League, it is often Gary Neville giving them out. Yet, when a player wins a certain amount, it is a clear indication of their quality.
Throughout the last 10 seasons, of course, it has been Lionel Messi who has dominated. The Argentine icon just has an ability to leave people with no choice but to hand out the award. For many, he comfortably sits on football's throne as the greatest player of all time.
There have still been a few surprises along the way, however, which you can see below, courtesy of a Reddit post.
2013/14, 2014/15, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2022/23: Lionel Messi
Messi is a joke, isn't he? In eight of the last 10 seasons, the Barcelona legend has picked up the most Man of the Match awards. And we can't even say that it's unjustified. Football's king has comfortably sat on his throne in a dominant reign over the beautiful game.
The most awards that he won in a single season in the last 10 years came in the 2014/15 campaign, when he scored 58 goals and recorded 31 assists in an incredible year that ended with a Ballon d'Or, Champions League, La Liga, and Spanish Cup win to complete a treble at Barcelona before the individual award.
Most recently, too, Messi picked up 17 Man of the Match awards – the most last season – as Argentina finally ended their World Cup heartache in Qatar, and Paris Saint-Germain won Ligue 1 once again, albeit in a difficult campaign.
With a move to Inter Miami on the way, Messi's reign over Europe has reached its end, and so begins the chance for others to dominate the Man of the Match award.
2015/16: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Believe it or not, we actually did get a short reprieve away from Messi dominance over the last 10 years, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic getting an obviously much-needed confidence boost to his ego in the 2015/16 season.
The former Sweden international was playing for PSG at the time, and clearly impressed those in France with his 50 goals and 19 assists for the season, winning a total of 16 Man of the Match awards.
In what was his last season at the club, before making the move to Manchester United, the legendary forward ended in world-class style at PSG.
2021/22: Christopher Nkunku
As Messi struggled to adapt to life in the French capital, it was Christopher Nukunku who won the most Man of the Match awards in the 2021/22 season, picking up a total of 14 for RB Leipzig.
Although the Frenchman didn't hit the levels of his Argentina counterpart, Nkunku scored an impressive 35 goals on top of recording 20 assists to make 55 goal involvements.
That season, combined with the last campaign of 32 goal involvements was enough to secure the Leipzig star a move to Chelsea this summer.
