Top five highest goal scorers in top five European leagues

There are three Ballon d'Or winners on the list of highest goal scorers

Football is the most popular sport in the world. Essentially it can be considered as the "world sport ". Moreover, the FIFA World Cup is inarguably the biggest sporting event ever. There are more than 180 countries officially registered with FIFA. However, the top 5 leagues are on a different level and are above other leagues.

The top 5 leagues comprise of Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1. Whilst the Premier League and La Liga have had their best eras, these five are the top five leagues in Europe and the best across the world. In such difficult leagues where consistency matters the most, some players have outdone themselves and scored a plethora of goals. Some legendary players of our generation such as Edinson Cavani, Luis Suarez, and Sergio Aguero are honourable mentions. Let's take a look at the top five scorers in the history of the top 5 leagues in Europe.

5. Karim Benzema - 280

The 2021-22 Ballon D'or winner was bound to make it to this list. Karim Benzema spent much of his Real Madrid career under the shadows of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. However, after Ronaldo's departure, Benzema stepped up and lived up to his full potential.

Karim Benzema started scoring 20 plus goals consistently however it was the 2021-22 season in which he fulfilled his potential. Benzema scored back-to-back hat-tricks in the UEFA Champions League against PSG and Chelsea. Moreover, he scored 27 goals assisting 12 times in 32 La Liga appearances in the 2021-22 season. To sum it up, the Ballon d'Or winner won the La Liga title, UCL title, La Liga Golden Boot and UCL Golden Boot as well.

4. Robert Lewandowski - 337

Lewandowski had spent the majority of his career in the Bundesliga playing for Borussia Dortmund and mainly Bayern Munich. The Polish striker scored 312 goals for both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in 384 Bundesliga appearances. Lewandowski even equalled Gerd Muller's record of scoring 30-plus goals in 5 consecutive seasons. Moreover, he even beat Gerd Muller's record for most goals scored in a single Bundesliga season (41 goals).

After many successful seasons in the Bundesliga, Lewandowski moved to FC Barcelona. Robert Lewandowski had an instant impact on FC Barcelona in his very first season. Lewandowski is set to win the Pichichi ( LaLiga's top scorer) scoring 23 goals in 33 appearances. Robert's contributions have helped FC Barcelona win the La Liga title as well.

3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic - 392

The most arrogant player ever but Zlatan does back his arrogance with his performances on the pitch. Zlatan has spent much of his playing career in Europe's top five leagues. This includes playing at Juventus, Inter Milan, Manchester United, FC Barcelona, and Paris Saint Germain.

Wherever Zlatan goes, he scores a lot of goals. Ibrahimovic had a slow start to his goalscoring record, scoring 26 goals in 92 matches for Juventus. After that Zlatan scored 66 goals assisting 30 times in 117 matches for Inter Milan. Much of his goal tally comes from scoring 156 goals in 180 games for PSG. As of now, the 41-year-old is spending the last years of his career at AC Milan. At the Italian club, Zlatan has amassed 92 goals in 159 appearances over two spells.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo - 495

The greatest player alongside Lionel Messi. Cristiano Ronaldo is an absolute goalscoring machine and has set numerous records. Today's generation has seen Cristiano Ronaldo leave Manchester United and join Al Nassr. However, when in the top 5 leagues and especially when a winning goal was needed, Ronaldo always pulled off a clutch performance.

Arguably the best striker and clutch player of all time. Cristiano Ronaldo has an astonishing record of scoring goals in big games especially last-minute goals. Sir Alex Ferguson first saw the young winger's dribbling skills in a friendly match against Sporting Portugal. After just one match, SAF signed him and what happened next is history.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored 103 goals in 236 PL appearances. After that, the most successful part of his career came at Real Madrid. Cristiano scored 311 goals in 292 appearances for Real Madrid. He won 4 UEFA Champions League titles as well with Madrid during this time period. Despite not winning much silverware with Juventus, Ronaldo managed to score a staggering 81 goals in just 92 Serie A appearances. No matter how his career ends, Cristiano Ronaldo or CR7 will forever be iconic and embedded in history as the Greatest alongside Lionel Messi.

1. Lionel Messi - 496

The Greatest of all time, Lionel Messi has won almost every accolade in football. Messi's recent goal in PSG's last game of the season secured the title and another record for Messi. Messi has now scored 496 goals in Europe's top 5 leagues surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo's record. Out of the 496 goals scored, Messi has scored 474 in La Liga.

Lionel Messi is the king of FC Barcelona and La Liga. Messi has and is still leading every possible award there which includes most golden boots, most goals, most hat-tricks and much more. Lionel Messi also managed to score 91 goals in a calendar year which includes a staggering 50 goals in 37 La Liga games.

As of now, Messi is likely to leave PSG and join FC Barcelona. Whatever his decision is, the World Cup winner is likely to remain in Europe's top five leagues.