Gunning for Ronaldo: Messi and Aubameyang ahead as 2017 race begins

Cristiano Ronaldo has been named The Best FIFA Men's Player for 2016, beating Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann to the honour.

The Real Madrid forward added to his victory in the Ballon d'Or with another individual triumph at Monday's ceremony in Zurich.

It caps a superb year for Ronaldo, who also won the Champions League and Club World Cup with Madrid, as well as Euro 2016 with Portugal.

But is Ronaldo really performing better than his rivals?

With the help of Opta data, we compare his club statistics from the start of the 2016-17 season to see if his trajectory points towards another individual accolade next year as the race for 2017's top honours begins.

GOALS

After scoring 51 times in 48 appearances at club level last season, Ronaldo has 17 in 20 across all competitions in 2016-17. 

Eternal rival Messi is already eight clear of him having played in two additional matches, while Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has impressively raced to 20.

Ronaldo, though, is clear of Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann, while Neymar is still down in single figures.

25 – Messi (22 appearances)
20 – Aubameyang (22 apps)
17 – RONALDO (20 apps)
15 – Suarez (23 apps)
11 – Griezmann (23 apps)
6 – Neymar (20 apps)

MINUTES PER GOAL

Messi's astonishing record of one goal for every 73 minutes played this season puts him well clear of the competition, with the prolific Aubameyang clearly beating Ronaldo as well.

The numbers suggest these two will be the main obstacles to Ronaldo claiming further individual recognition in 2017.

73.4 - Messi
94.6 – Aubameyang
104.3 – RONALDO
126.7 – Suarez
179.8 – Griezmann
297.3 - Neymar

ASSISTS

Neymar has been lacking in goals but is the clear leader when it comes to setting up his team-mates, with Messi and Ronaldo closely matched in pursuit. Aubameyang, meanwhile, trails in this department.

13 – Neymar
7 – Messi
6 – RONALDO
6 – Suarez
6 - Griezmann
4 – Aubameyang

MINUTES PER GOAL INVOLVEMENT 

Minutes per goal involvement combines goals and assists to provide a combined statistic of players' attacking production.

Messi has been comfortably involved in the most goals during his time on the pitch, scoring or assisting once every 57 minutes.

Ronaldo and Aubameyang are evenly matched and clear of Suarez, Neymar and Griezmann.

57.3 – Messi
77.1 - RONALDO
78.8 – Aubameyang
90.5 – Suarez
93.8 – Neymar
116.4 – Griezmann

CHANCES CREATED

Messi is also faring significantly better than Ronaldo when it comes to chances created, with Aubameyang well down the list that is topped by Neymar.

62 – Neymar
49 – Messi
41 - Griezmann
27 – Suarez
25 – RONALDO
24 – Aubameyang