Greatest foreign XI in La Liga history

# Right Winger - Lionel Messi (ten-time La Liga winner)

Lionel Messi is a La Liga and Barcelona legend. Widely regarded as one of the best players to have played in the competition, the PSG attacker holds an array of records in the Spanish top flight.

Messi is one of just three players to win at least ten La Liga titles and the only one to do so for Barcelona. With 474 goals in the competition, the Argentine is a proverbial country mile ahead of the next most prolific scorer in La Liga history - Cristiano Ronaldo (more on him later).

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The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner is the only player to score 50 La Liga goals in a season, or for that matter in any top-five league campaign across Europe. Messi's eight Pichichi awards are also more than what anybody else has managed.

# Striker - Karim Benzema (three-time La Liga winner)

Karim Benzema is one of the most underrated strikers in La Liga history. However, his goalscoring brilliance cannot be denied.

After playing second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo for almost a decade, Benzema emerged from Ronaldo's shadow to lead the Real Madrid frontline with aplomb. In his last three La Liga seasons since Ronaldo's departure in 2018, the Frenchman has netted at least 21 times in each campaign.

He's already up to 13 goals in the 2021-22 season. Earlier this campaign, the 33-year-old also entered the La Liga 200-goal club.

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Considering the brilliant start to his campaign, the three-time La Liga winner could win his first Pichichi award and second league title in three years.

# Left Winger - Cristiano Ronaldo (two-time La Liga winner)

Cristiano Ronaldo, much like Messi, is widely regarded as one of the best players in the game's history.

With over 300 goals and 30 hat-tricks in the Spanish top flight, Ronaldo's tallies are bettered only by Messi. The Portuguese was the first player to breach the 40-goal mark in a La Liga campaign (2010-11).

He later did so twice, netting 46 league goals to win his first title in the competition. Ronaldo produced a stunning 48-goal campaign in 2014-15, only for Barcelona to pip Real Madrid to the La Liga title.

Ronaldo is one of two players in history to score at least 300 La Liga strikes and arrived at the milestone while averaging more than a goal per game.

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It's a shame the five-time Ballon d'Or winner won only two La Liga titles despite playing nine seasons in the competition. That's largely to do with a brilliant Barcelona team that thwarted Madrid at least thrice despite the latter racking up at least 90 points.

Real Madrid's all-time top scorer signed off from Spanish football after a staggering tally of 450 goals across all competitions.

About the author

Bhargav is a veteran sports journalist and editor at Sportskeeda, with a rich professional experience of 17 years, working for the likes of Siemens and Bombay Dyeing. An avid football and tennis follower for over three decades, Bhargav uses his vast knowledge and experience, attention to detail, an unbiased yet interesting writing style, and thorough research to craft insightful articles, which have raked in over 20 million reads so far.

Bhargav supports Italy at national level, a team steeped in tradition and history according to him. He still harbors the heartbreak from the Azzurri’s 1994 FIFA World Cup final defeat against Brazil, and protagonist-turned-antagonist from the game, ‘Divine Ponytail’ Roberto Baggio is his all-time favorite player. His favorite manager is Marcelo Lippi, who ended Italy’s 24-year wait for the World Cup trophy, winning it in 2006.

Outside Europe’s top five leagues, he follows the MLS following Lionel Messi’s move in 2023 but favors Cristiano Ronaldo in the G.O.A.T. debate. During his free time, Bhargav enjoys driving off to new places and singing.

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Edited by Anantaajith Raghuraman