The stats that show Muller & Neymar are the best in the world right now

Form is temporary, class is permanent, the old adage tells us. While Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have had their ups and downs over the last few years, the pair's dominance in the prestigious Ballon d'Or award demonstrates their sustained quality over the course of each and every season.

Right now, though, with the Argentine coming back from a knee injury and his Madrid nemesis in a marked slump, the two stars have had to take a step out of the spotlight. With apologies to Luis Suarez, who comes painfully close to staking his own claim, the two most electrifying performers in world football right now are Thomas Muller and Neymar.

Stand-out displays from both the Barcelona forward and the Bayern Munich idol on Saturday continued a run of brilliant form that in no small part explains why their clubs hold such comfortable leads at the top of their respective divisions.

Muller guided home a first-half header to open the scoring against Hertha Berlin, keeping up his fantastic scoring record. In his last nine starts for Bayern he has found the net in eight games, with only a blank in the Champions League defeat to Arsenal blotting the World Cup winner's copybook.

Revelling in a position just off main striker Robert Lewandowski, he has taken his tally for the 2014/15 Bundesliga season to 13 goals - equalling his best-ever league haul after just 14 games.

Neymar, meanwhile, made up for a midweek penalty miss in the rout against Roma in emphatic fashion. Real Sociedad were no match for the Brazilian star, who scored twice and laid on a lovely pass for Lionel Messi to put the icing on the cake during a 4-0 victory.

The striker's recent stats speak for themselves. In his last seven Liga run-outs Neymar has smashed 11 goals and added another five assists, while in the key Clasico against Madrid he created no less than six scoring chances, more than anyone else on that Liga weekend.

Messi and Ronaldo will undoubtedly soon be back to take the plaudits, but for now the pair will have a battle on their hands to unseat two players in the form of their lives.