Three Arsenal players have been selected alongside Lionel Messi in the CIES Football Observatory's 2015 Dream Team, but the Barcelona star's fellow Ballon d'Or contenders Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar have missed out.
CIES' team is based on the statistics of players in Europe's top five leagues -- the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1 -- from Jan. 1, 2015 onwards in six key areas of the game.
Luis Enrique's Treble-winning Barca -- who also lifted the Club World Cup in Japan on Sunday to earn their fifth trophy of the calendar year -- are represented by Dani Alves and Messi, while Arsenal lead the list with three players in Nacho Monreal, Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil.
Camp Nou talisman Messi was picked as CIES' lone forward in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with no room for the likes of Blaugrana teammate Neymar or Real Madrid star Ronaldo -- the two players Messi faces on the shortlist for the 2015 Ballon d'Or.
N'Golo Kanté dans le top 10 des meilleurs milieux défensifs de 2015 / @sportCIES #SMCaen pic.twitter.com/AZic8Um3D6
- Boris Helleu (@bhelleu) December 21, 2015
Luis Suarez -- who missed out on the Ballon d'Or shortlist despite a superb year for Barca -- was ranked as the second-best forward, followed by Neymar (third) and Ronaldo (fourth), with Gareth Bale in fifth.
Belgium star Eden Hazard appears alongside compatriot Kevin De Bruyne in attacking midfield despite the Chelsea winger suffering a dip in form for the Premier League champions this season.
CIES' report says that if the Ballon d'Or was awarded per position, then Thiago Silva (centre-back), Dani Alves (full-back), Ilkay Gundogan (defence-oriented central midfielder), Cazorla (attack-oriented central midfielders), Ozil (attacking midfielder) and Messi (forward) would be the recipients.
CIES' rankings are determined by six key performance indicators: shooting, recovery (intercepting), distribution, take-ons, chance creation and rigour (minimising chances for opponents through duelling).
Only footballers who played at least 2,250 minutes, equivalent to 25 full top-five league matches, were included in the rankings.
Notable exceptions to CIES' tables due to the rule on minutes played include Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure, Aaron Ramsey, Jordi Alba, Jerome Boateng, David Luiz and David Alaba.
The under-23s dream team includes the likes of Juventus' Paul Pogba, Arsenal's Hector Bellerin, Real Madrid's Raphael Varane and Everton playmaker Ross Barkley.
CIES 2015 Dream Team:
Manuel Neuer; (Bayern Munich); Dani Alves (Barcelona), Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Nacho Monreal (Arsenal); Ilkay Gundogan (Borussia Dortmund), Santi Cazorla (Arsenal); Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Kevin De Bruyne (Man City), Eden Hazard (Chelsea); Lionel Messi (Barca).
U23s Dream Team:
Loris Karius (Mainz); Hector Bellerin (Arsenal) Samuel Umtiti (Lyon), Raphael Varane (Madrid), Wendell (Bayer Leverkusen); Corentin Tolisso (Lyon), Paul Pogba (Juve); Bernardo Silva (Monaco), Ross Barkley (Everton), Felipe Anderson (Lazio); Paulo Dybala (Juve).