Saturday 26 December 2015 09:25, UK
Sky Sports continues to count down the top 100 players of 2015 with the help of WhoScored.com.
After every game WhoScored.com gives players competing in Europe's top five leagues a mark out of 10 based on a wide range of statistical data. Each player then gets an average score for 2015, and to qualify for this countdown, players must have made at least 20 league appearances.
Our list of the top 100 players this calendar year kicked off on Tuesday with those ranked from 100 to 76, followed by 75-51 on Wednesday, and we will reveal 25 more each day until we reach the No 1 player on Christmas Day.
Here we make it into the top 50, starting with a couple of big-hitters from Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid...
50. Thomas Muller - Bayern Munich - 7.424 average rating
The Bayern Munich forward does it all for Pep Guardiola's all-conquering band of Bavarians. With Euro 2016 on the horizon, expect to see Muller's broad grin and wide-eyed celebration a few times next year too.
49. Antoine Griezmann - Atletico Madrid - 7.425 average rating
The focal point of Atletico's attack, Griezmann has 13 goals in 22 appearances in all competitions at the winter break. Last season he scored a third of Atletico's league goals too, and so far this term he's got the ninth highest average rating in the Spanish top flight.
48. Aleksandar Kolarov - Manchester City - 7.426 average rating
In a team full of star names, Kolarov often slips under the radar, but the left-back has enjoyed a good year on the flank. As he showed against Southampton in late November, Kolarov is most useful as an attacking outlet. He caused problems all afternoon, and capped a great display with a fine goal.
47. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Borussia Dortmund - 7.428 average rating
After making Bundesliga history by becoming the first player to score in the first eight games of the season, Aubameyang has continued his superb year by netting 18 goals in 17 Bundesliga appearances in the first half of the campaign. He finished the 2014/15 season by scoring nine times in the last 12 games and confirmed recently that he is happy at Dortmund. "The people here accept me for who I am. Dortmund has become my second home," he said.
46. Diego Perotti - Genoa - 7.429 average rating
Perotti enjoyed his best season yet at surprise package Genoa last year, and a slight drop off in form for the winger corresponded with a slow start to the new campaign for his club. At his best, Perotti can create something out of nothing.
45. Luka Modric - Real Madrid - 7.429 average rating
A recent uncharacteristic mistake against Villarreal proved costly, but in the main Modric has been his usual creative self for Real Madrid. His 91.2 per cent pass completion percentage is second only to Toni Kroos at the club this campaign.
44. Arturo Vidal - Juventus & Bayern Munich - 7.435 average rating
The Chile international has had a year to remember, helping his country to a Copa America title, his club to the Serie A crown and nearly the Champions League, before capping it off with the big-money move to Bayern Munich. He's started life well in Germany, and is currently the fifth highest-rated league player at the Allianz Arena.
43. Stefan Bell - Mainz - 7.446 average rating
Mainz's highest-rated player in the 2014/15 season, the defender has continued to impress this campaign with the most interceptions and clearances for his team.
42. Granit Xhaka - Borussia Monchengladbach - 7.458 average rating
The Swiss midfielder was Gladbach's highest-rated player in the 2014/15 season and has again been influential as the Foals have recovered from a poor start to climb up the Bundesliga table in 2015/16. He signed a contract extension earlier in the year and has become the youngest captain in the club's history.
41. Christian Fuchs - Schalke & Leicester - 7.459 average rating
Snapped up by the Foxes after a great year in the Bundesliga, Fuchs has been impressive for top-of-the-table Leicester. Stats show only three team-mates have been better than the Austria international in the league this season.
40. Philippe Coutinho - Liverpool - 7.461 average rating
The Brazilian was named in the Premier League team of the season for 2014/15 and was also the Liverpool Fans' Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year. He has continued to impress in 2015/16 and is Liverpool's joint-top scorer in the league with five goals.
39. Gonzalo Higuain - Napoli - 7.462 average rating
After finishing the 2014/15 season with 18 league goals, Higuain is already close to surpassing that mark at the turn of the year. The Argentine is the leading scorer in Serie A with 16 goals in 17 matches.
38. Diego Godin - Atletico Madrid - 7.462 average rating
A part of one of the best defences in Europe, Godin was named in the Champions League team of the group stage as Atletico topped their group. Atletico have conceded just eight goals in 16 La Liga matches this season and Godin has made more clearances and interceptions than any of his team-mates.
37. Jonas Hector - Cologne - 7.473 average rating
The defender was Cologne's highest-rated player of the 2014/15 season and is their top performing player so far this campaign as well. He has made more interceptions than any of his team-mates and also makes it into the WhoScored team of the season at the winter break in the Bundesliga.
36. Karim Benzema - Real Madrid - 7.476 average rating
Not at his most prolific in the first half of the year, but Benzema has scored 11 goals in La Liga this season and has also netted four times in three Champions League starts. The France international finished the year with a hat-trick in Real's 10-2 thrashing of Rayo Vallecano.
35. Loic Perrin - Saint Etienne - 7.485 average rating
The centre-back made it into the WhoScored team of the season for 2014/15 with a rating of 7.6 and is the club's highest-rated player so far in Ligue 1 this campaign. He has also chipped in with three goals in the second half of the year and was called up by France for the first time in November.
34. Aritz Aduriz - Athletic Bilbao - 7.487 average rating
The experienced striker has topped Athletic's scoring charts in La Liga for the past three seasons and looks like doing so again with 10 goals in 15 league games in the first half of the 2015/16 campaign. His highlight of the year was scoring four times in the two-legged Spanish Super Cup as Athletic thrashed Barcelona 5-1 on aggregate.
33. Eden Hazard - Chelsea - 7.488 average rating
The Belgian won a host of awards after playing a starring role in Chelsea's title-winning campaign of 2014/15 with 14 goals and nine assists in the Premier League. He was named Chelsea's Player of the Year, the PFA Players' Player of the Year, the Premier League Player of the Season and the FWA Footballer of the Year. While his form dipped in the second half of the year, there have been signs recently that he is getting back to somewhere near his best.
32. Nacho Monreal - 7.492 average rating
The highest-rated left-back so far in the Premier League 2015/16 season, Monreal has established himself as an important first-team player for the Gunners. While Laurent Koscielny might be ranked higher, it is Monreal who has played more minutes in the league's best defence of 2015.
31. David Silva - Manchester City - 7.493 average rating
Even though he missed seven weeks with injury, Silva is still City's second-highest rated player this season behind Vincent Kompany. He was labelled the "best player in the Premier League" in 2015 by team-mate Edin Dzeko and also former Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville.
30. Mats Hummels - Borussia Dortmund - 7.499 average rating
Hummels was a key part of the Dortmund side that ended a turbulent 2014/15 season with victory over Bayern Munich in the German Cup. The captain is WhoScored's highest-rated defender in Dortmund's team at the winter break and head coach Thomas Tuchel says he has rediscovered his confidence in recent weeks.
29. Laurent Koscielny - Arsenal - 7.508 average rating
The Frenchman made it into the WhoScored Premier League team of the season for 2014/15 with a rating of 7.4 and is the highest-rated centre-back so far this campaign with a 7.5 rating. He has made more interceptions and blocks than any of his defensive team-mates this campaign.
28. Paul Pogba - Juventus - 7.509 average rating
Part of the Juventus side that reached the Champions League final and won Serie A and the Coppa Italia, the 22-year-old was also named in the Serie A team of the year for 2014/15. He was linked with a move away from Turin in the summer but opted to remain and is Juventus' second highest-rated player this season behind the in-form Paulo Dybala.
27. Marco Verratti - Paris St-Germain - 7.52 average rating
In a star-studded PSG side, Verratti has continued to establish himself in 2015 as one of the most promising young players on the continent. The Italian set up two goals in the win over Saint-Etienne in October and earned a rating of 8.57 for his display in the 3-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.
26. Layvin Kurzawa - Monaco & Paris St-Germain - 7.524 average rating
The left-back was signed by PSG in the summer after six man-of-the-match displays in the 2014/15 Ligue 1 season earned him a WhoScored rating of 7.54. The 23-year-old has scored twice for the runaway league leaders this season and is part of the best defence in the French top flight.
We are nearly there! Keep an eye out on Christmas Day as we reveal the players ranked 25-1.
