The top tier of the FTBL world ranking of midfielders changed fundamentally after yesterday’s games in major top leagues, with Chelsea’s Frank Lampard losing the top spot after the Blues’ shock loss at Manchester City: he dropped more than 35 rating points in the FTBL system and has slid to 3rd place, while Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi now tops the ranking.

The winner of this year’s France Football’s Ballon d’Or was impressive in the hard-fought win over Deportivo, scoring two of the Catalans’ 3 goals to pick up 25.2 rating points in the FTBL system. He now has a tally of 186.64 points, 12 points more than the # 2 in the world, teammate Xavi.

Messi has even brighter perspectives ahead: he will need to “defend” less than 30 rating points in his next 4 games, and given the Catalans’ (and Messi’s) fantastic form, it is safe to expect the Argentine prodigy to hit the 200- to 230-point mark very soon.