Barcelona’s Xavi snubs Kylian Mbappe as he backs Erling Haaland among others as world’s best strikers

Barcelona frontman Xavi Hernandez recently offered fans a sneak peek into his list of the best strikers in the world. He included the likes of Catalunya's own Robert Lewandowski, arch-nemeses Real Madrid's Karim Benzema and Manchester City's Erling Haaland. One of the biggest omissions from his list was Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe, who is frequently hailed as one of the greatest attacking talents in the world.

This comes shortly after the strikers in question were seen in their element, entertaining fans with a series of electrifying performances each on the grandest stage of club football, the UEFA Champions League. In the aftermath of the Champions League action, Xavi was witnessed talking up Lewandowski's game, before revealing his list of Top-3 attackers in the world. 

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"It's fantastic to have him in the team, I can't praise him enough. But it's not just the hat-trick, it's everything he does and what he brings. Apart from the goals, he makes the team play, he understands when to press, he gives us many solutions in attack, how he communicates, he understands the game. The best? There's him, Benzema and also Haaland," said Xavi.

The reason behind Xavi's glowing review of Lewandowski was his mindblowing performance in Barcelona's most recent Champions League draw against Czech side Viktoria Plzen. which took place at home, where the Pole bagged a hat-trick.

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Haaland, who featured on Xavi's list of Top-3 strikers in the world also recorded an extremely successful outing in Manchester City's UCL Group Stage draw against Sevilla as he recorded a brace, to help City see through their romp of the Spanish giants in their backyard of Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium. 

Karim Benzema, however, did not fare as well owing to an injury that forced him off the field during Los Blancos' hard-fought 3-0 win against Celtic. Kylian Mbappe, on the other hand, managed to find the back of the net twice, single-handedly carrying Paris Saint-Germain to victory against Juventus in a clash that ended at 2-1.