The La Liga top scorers - Who leads the all-time list, and who's on top among current players?

The La Liga is Europe’s strongest league over the past five seasons as per UEFA’s league coefficient rankings

The Spanish La Liga of Liga BBVA is the most technically skillful league in the world, boasting some of the best players who have played the game. As per UEFA’s league coefficient rankings, the La Liga is the strongest league in Europe over the past five years. It’s no surprise, then, that the league has hosted a wide array of top goalscorers who have racked up the numbers for their teams.

Flashy football and emphasis on youth players coming through the clubs’ ranks make the La Liga extremely appealing to fans who also get to witness some of the best talents from across the world. The league is presently home to arguably two of the best players in the game at present – Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. And a look at the most prolific goalscorers in the league reveals that the pair features prominently in the Top 10 and are the only active players in the list.

Messi sits comfortably at the top of the La Liga goalscoring charts with 284 goals in 313 appearances. Still only 28 and with every chance that of ending his career at the Nou Camp, the Argentine’s goal tally by the end of his career is the stuff of far-reaching imagination right now.

Ronaldo is head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to the goals/games ratio. The Portuguese international averages a staggering 1.125 goals per game and is the only player with a realistic chance of catching Messi.

So who all make the list in the Top 10 goal scorers in La Liga history? Let’s take a look.

Lionel Messi is La Liga’s all-time leading goalscorer with 284 goals

No	Player	Year	Clubs	Matches	Goals	Ratio
1	Lionel Messi	2004 – Present	Barcelona	313	284	0.907
2	Telmo Zarra	1940 – 1955	Athletic Bilbao	278	251	0.902
3	Hugo Sanchez	1981 – 1985 1985 – 1992 1993 – 1994	Atletico Madrid Real Madrid Rayo Vallencano	111 207 29	54 164 16	0.486 0.792 0.551
				347	234	0.674
4	Raul Gonzalez	1994 – 2010	Real Madrid	550	228	0.414
5	Alfredo di Stefano	1953 – 1964 1964 – 1966	Real Madrid Espanyol	282 47	216 11	0.766 0.234
				329	227	0.69
6	Cristiano Ronaldo	2009 – Present	Real Madrid	200	225	1.125
7	Cesar Rodriguez	1940 – 1941 1941 – 1955 1955 – 1956 1959 – 1960	Grenada Barcelona Cultural Leonesa Elche	24 287 15 27	23 192 3 5	0.958 0.669 0.2 0.185
				353	223	0,632
8	Quini	1970 – 1980 1980 – 1984	Sporting Barcelona	325 100	175 54	0.538 0.54
				425	219	0.515
9	Pahino	1943 – 1944 1945 – 1948 1948 – 1953 1953 – 1956	Celta Vigo Celta Vigo Real Madrid Deportivo	15 67 122 72	4 52 108 46	0.266 0.776 0.885 0.639
				276	210	0.761
10	Edmundo Suarez	1939 – 1950 1950 – 1951	Valencia Alcoyano	210 21	186 9	0.886 0.428
				231	195	0.844

Top La Liga goalscorers who are still active in the game

With 225 goals from 200 games, Ronaldo is Messi’s only rival to the No 1 spot

Among the leading goalscorers who are still playing the game, there are lethal forwards like David Villa, Samuel Eto’o and Diego Forlan, who are in the twilight of their careers, as well as players like Gonzalo Higuain, Alvaro Negredo and Roberto Soldado who still have a few years of top flight football left in them.

Rivaldo would have featured in the list as well – at the No. 9 spot – had he not announced his retirement (yes, again!) from the game this weekend, at the age of 43.

No	Player	Matches	Goals	Ratio
1	Lionel Messi	313	284	0.907
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	200	225	1.125
3	David Villa	352	185	0.525
4	Samuel Etoo	280	172	0.614
5	Raul Tamudo	403	145	0.36
6	Diego Forlan	240	128	0.533
7	Aritz Aduriz	312	111	0.356
8	Gonzalo Higuain	190	107	0.563
9	Alvaro Negredo	239	107	0.448
10	Roberto Soldado	207	101	0.488