Not Lionel Messi Or Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona Striker Top Scorer In Europe Over Last Decade

Posted by Admin March 2, 2024 Football

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the goalscoring charts in Europe for more than two decades now. Both superstars have plenty of records on their name, having finished as the top goal scorer in Europe on numerous occasions. Messi is the record six-time winner of the European Golden Boot, awarded to the top scorer in Europe.

However, for all his heroics, the Argentine World Cup winner has surprisingly finished second in the list of top scorers in Europe in the past decade. Messi, 36, also has more goals than Ronaldo in Europe with the latter having left for Saudi Arabia to join Al Nassr.

While the Portuguese legend is third in the list of the leading goalscorers in Europe over the past decade, narrowly behind Messi in second, Barcelona talisman Robert Lewandowski takes the top spot.

According to a report from Transfermarkt, CR7 has recorded 350 goals in 406 games in the top five leagues in Europe, over the past decade during which he played for Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United. Whereas, his arch-nemesis, Lionel Messi bagged 377 goals in 458 games for Barcelona and later for Paris Saint-Germain.

Lewandowski meanwhile outscored both forwards, widely considered the best of all time by their respective fans. The Polish striker has been extremely lethal in front of the goal. He won five top scorer awards consecutively when he was playing for Bayern Munich and amassed a massive tally of 344 goals for the Bavarians alone, despite joining the team in 2014.

He would then go on to join Barcelona on a free transfer and has continued his red-hot scoring streak. In the 2020-21 season, the veteran marksman scored 41 league goals, but was unceremoniously not awarded the Ballon d’Or with the award being cancelled due to a COVID-19 curtailed season.

While many fans felt Lewandowski was robbed, the Polish striker himself was never bothered as he continued to deliver the goods. In total, he has scored 407 goals in 478 games, in the past decade in Europe’s top five leagues, proving his worth in gold.

Elsewhere, behind Lewandowski, Messi and Ronaldo, is England captain Harry Kane who eventually replaced the Polish striker at Bayern. Kane has amassed 309 goals in 453 games for Tottenham and Bayern Munich. Rounding off the top five is PSG’s top talent Kylian Mbappe who has 271 goals in 352 appearances for Monaco and PSG. The Frenchman has been heavily tipped to join Real Madrid once his contract expires at the end of this season.

Also among the top 10 highest goalscorers in Europe over the past decade are Karim Benzema, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Luis Suarez, Mohamed Salah and Ciro Immobile.