Messi, Neymar, Hazard: 10 most fouled players in Europe’s top leagues since 2016

As the old footballing adage goes: if you can’t take the ball, take the man.

And many of the world’s top attacking players have found this out the hard way.

Trying to win the ball off the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe is, quite simply, a Herculian task.

Their sleek skills, elite ball control and ability to tie any defender’s legs in a knot means that they can dominate games and score virtuoso goals against some of the world’s best sides.

That is why many defenders take a no-nonsense approach when playing against these players, opting to concede an unwanted foul but ultimately stopping the threat of a goal.

Fans will remember when Eden Hazard was scythed down while playing for Chelsea against Galatasaray in 2014.

Images of his torn-up socks were posted on social media after the game, showing that the Belgian had been kicked to shreds by the Galatasaray defence.

A hole in the sock of Eden Hazard of Chelsea after a heavy challenge from Aurelien Chedjou of Galatasaray pic.twitter.com/NBjtQKLWM4

While the Real Madrid star is one of the best dribblers on the planet, he isn’t quite the most fouled player in all of Europe’s top five leagues.

Thanks to BeSoccer, we now have the stats to show the top 10 footballers who have been fouled the most since 2016.

Take a look at the list below…

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10. Josip Iličić (Atalanta) – 612

9. Nabil Fekir (Real Betis) – 631

8. Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) – 679

7. Eden Hazard (Real Madrid) – 681

6. Hirving Lozano (Napoli) – 720

5. Juan Cuadrado (Juventus) – 729

4. Jack Grealish (Manchester City) – 747

3. Andrea Belotti (Torino) – 747

2. Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain) – 839

1. Neymar (Paris