According to a study by the Research Centre of History and Statistics of Spanish Football
(CIHEFE), Barcelona striker, Lionel Messi has been declared as the best player in Spanish
history ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The study which was statistically analyzed
from the 86 seasons of the Spanish league
championship put former Real Madrid icon
Raul in second place, ahead of Cesar
Rodriguez, Telmo Zarra and Enrique Castro
‘Quini’.
The study analysed a number of factors,
including minutes played in each season,
goals scored from open play, penalty kicks,
own goals and red cards, researcher Jose
Antonio Ortega revealed.
“All of the evaluation criteria are marked
with a simple and H0mogeneous scoring
system that manages to evaluate all of the
players with the same analysis in each
season,” he said.
Since the start of LaLiga in 1929, a total of
9,280 players have plied their trade in the
Spanish top flight, with 854 of those being
goalkeepers.
Messi rose to the top of the study for several
reasons, including being the only player to
vastly exceed 300 goals, currently sitting on
349.
According to Ortega, his final points tally of
545 comfortably put him ahead of Raul
(528), Cesar (524), Zarra (493) and Quini
(488), with the top 10 being rounded out by
Juan Arza (481), Alfredo Di Stefano (481),
Paco Gento (467), Carlos Alonso
‘Santillana’ (464) and Guillermo Gorostiza
(454).
In his report, Ortega also pointed out that
Messi possesses the “technique, ambition,
talent and ability that have made him one of
the most valuable players of all time”.
During the final standings, Cristiano Ronaldo
was ranked in the second spot in terms of
players who are still active, while he is 17th
in the overall rankings with a total of 415
points.
Rounding out the top three of players who
are still in action is Athletic forward Aritz
Aduriz, who sits 67th in the total list with
314 points and 146 LaLiga goals to his
name.
All of the players who make up the upper
echelons of the rankings mostly have 10 or
more seasons in Spain’s top tier to their
name, with much of that longevity being
with one club for a long period, on many
occasions.
Basque goalkeeper Jose Ramon Esnaola,
who is 42nd on the list, is the first man to
feature who was never capped at
international level.
