5 best attacking duos in football this season (2021-22)
What's better than having one of your attackers firing on all cylinders? The answer is simple. Having two. Attacking partnerships have existed for as long as the beautiful game has. Having a strike partner whom you share a telepathic understanding with can elevate your game to a whole different level.
Some of the greatest forwards in the history of the sport have, at some point in their career, had a strike partner who understood them like no other. The legendary Alfredo Di Stefano had Ferenc Puskas. The same goes for Marco Van Basten and Ruud Gullit.
The duo of Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke were a crucial part of Manchester United's success in the late 90s and early 2000s.
In the 2000s, we had the nearly unstoppable Manchester United duo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. Around the same time, the incredible Ronaldinho was tearing it up for Barcelona alongside Samuel Eto'o. Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery were another attacking pair that gave nightmares to their opposition.
Without further ado, let's take a look at five of the best attacking duos in football this season.
#5 Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)
Inter Milan were in a good place when the 2020-21 season ended. Or at least it looked like they were. After all, they had won the Serie A title after 11 years and had a team filled with talented, hungry players. But due to their financial woes, they had to let go of a few of their top stars and that included Romelu Lukaku.
Lukaku was arguably Inter Milan's best player last term and his departure was expected to rock the Nerazzurri. But they just took it in their stride and went and signed veteran striker Edin Dzeko on a free transfer. They paired him up with young Lautaro Martinez and the results have been great.
Dzeko's experience and Martinez's exuberance make for a wonderful duo. Their exploits in the final third have propelled Inter Milan to the top of the Serie A table. Dzeko has scored 11 goals and provided five assists in 25 appearances across all competitions for Simone Inzaghi's men this term.
Martinez has scored 11 goals and provided two assists in 24 appearances so far this ongoing season.
A highlight-reel worthy Edin Džeko goal!🗣️ "Sometimes I manage to make difficult goals look easy."
⚫️🔵 A highlight-reel worthy Edin Džeko goal!
@Inter_en | #UCL https://t.co/GtxyPcCLvw
#4 Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)
Kylian Mbappe has been in sublime form this season. Despite already having quite a strong side, PSG beefed up substantially this past summer and Lionel Messi was chief among their new arrivals. The Argentinian international has not exactly been among the goals in Ligue 1 thus far.
But if you've watched PSG play this term, you'll know that Messi has done quite well and it's just the end product that is lacking right now. Even then, he has been in great form in the Champions League. Messi and Mbappe are a dream pairing and Pochettino has to be the luckiest manager in the world in that regard.
The two can play to each other's strengths and the duo's ability to flit past defenders and get into dangerous areas makes PSG a dangerous team to go up against.
Messi has scored six goals and provided five assists in 16 appearances across all competitions for PSG. The incredible Kylian Mbappe has been one of the best performing attackers in all of Europe's top five leagues. He has scored 18 goals and provided 15 assists in just 26 appearances across all competitions this term.
Lionel Messi made his first PSG goal look 𝘀𝗼 easy 🐐
Beware Manchester City 😱
https://t.co/rvsTOhptdc