Champions League: The highest-rated PL player in each season since 2009/10

In every single season of the modern era, players who perform in the Champions League are given an overall rating on WhoScored.

While it would be foolish to think that the numbers provided by the stats-based website are gospel, it’s always intriguing to see who sits top of the pile over the course of an entire campaign.

Unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have achieved that feat on multiple occasions, while Neymar and Robert Lewandowski have also taken number one spot.

What about those playing for a Premier League team, though? Well, since 2009/10, there hasn’t been a single footballer from the English top-flight that’s taken the gold medal for Champions League rating in a single season.

But why let that spoil all the fun, eh?

We’ve decided to ignore those occupying top spot and have instead scoured the archives to find the highest-rated Premier League player on WhoScored from each Champions League season in the aforementioned timeframe.

Let’s take a look at the results…

Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal) | 8.28 rating

Bendtner scored five goals in four matches, including a hat-trick against FC Porto in the last-16 and a memorable strike against prime Barcelona at Camp Nou. ‘The Lord’ was pretty darn good in his pomp.

Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) | 7.83 rating

The season Bale made Inter Milan‘s Maicon look like a Sunday League player on two separate occasions. The Welshman netted a famous hat-trick at San Siro, finishing the European campaign with four goals overall as Spurs reached the quarter-finals.

Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea) | 7.62 rating

Ivanovic was key to Chelsea’s unexpected 2011/12 Champions League triumph, although he actually missed the final victory over Bayern Munich after being booked in the