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La Liga has evolved over the past few decades in terms of its tactical and technical aspects. Managers now prefer players who are capable of carrying out versatile duties in multiple roles.
Several defenders have been among the goals in La Liga
The rise of defenders in attacking roles is at an all-time high in La Liga and football in general. Defenders are being used tactically in terms of providing impetus in set-piece situations, midfield overload and support during counter attacking moves.
There has been an increase in defenders who are scoring regularly for their respective clubs due to the changing nature of the sport. On that note, let's take a quick look at the top five La Liga defenders with the highest number of goals in the last decade:
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#5 Coke - 17 goals
Jorge 'Coke' Moreno moved to Sevilla at the start of the last decade after earning promotion to La Liga with Rayo Vallecano. After making his first-team debut in La Liga with the Los Nervionenses, the right-back scored his first goal in the 2012-13 season against Real Zaragoza.
Coke also went on to score a second goal in the same game, earning a brace to his name on the scoresheet. The Spaniard rose to the role of captain at Sevilla after the departure of Ivan Rakitic, who joined Barcelona in 2014.
Despite getting into the groove at Sevilla, the full-back spent a couple of seasons at Bundesliga side Schalke before returning to La Liga in 2018. Coke joined Levante on loan due to a lack of game time in Germany. The loan deal was eventually made permanent and he has been a mainstay in the Levante defense ever since.
Coke has gone on to play 195 games with Sevilla and Levante, scoring 17 goals so far in the last decade at the time of writing this article.
#4 Inigo Martinez - 18 goals
Inigo Martinez climbed from the reserve side of his boyhood club, Real Sociedad, to make the first team debut with the Basque-based side in La Liga in the 2011-12 season. The centre-back scored his first La Liga goal with a thunderous strike from inside his own half in a 2-1 loss to Athletic Bilbao during a Basque derby.
Martinez netted four times in 34 matches in the 2012-13 season to guide Sociedad into the UEFA Champions League. The centre-back moved to Sociedad's regional rivals Athletic Bilbao for €32 million in 2018, despite signing a new five-year extension with the club earlier.
The Spaniard scored his first goal for Bilbao with a backheel flick in a home fixture against Real Betis in a 1-0 home win in 2020. He has now played 316 games in La Liga, scoring 18 goals in the last decade, 16 for Real Sociedad and twice for Bilbao.
#3 Oscar de Marcos - 21 goals
Oscar de Marcos had to wait two years to make his La Liga debut after making his professional debut with Deportivo Alaves in the 2007-08 Segunda division. After a two-year tenure in the lower divisions of Spanish football, the full-back joined Athletic Bilbao in La Liga in 2009.
The Spaniard scored his first goal for the club against FC Barcelona in the Supercopa de Espana, which went the way of the Catalans on aggregate. The Alaves academy graduate started as a midfielder in La Liga but has largely been used as a centre-back or full-back by most of his managers at Bilbao.
Marcos's most memorable goals were his strikes against Manchester United in both the legs of the Round of 16 clash in the Europa League back in the 2011-12 season. The full-back also netted in the subsequent quarter-final tie with Schalke.
The 32-year-old has managed to score 21 goals so far in the last decade at Athletic Bilbao despite initially playing as a midfielder in the early days of his career.
#2 Gerard Pique - 24 goals
Gerard Pique returned to his boyhood club, Barcelona, after winning the Premier League and Champions League in England with Manchester United. The centre-back scored his first goal for Barcelona in a 5-2 win over Sporting Lisbon in the 2007-08 Champions League.
The Spaniard's most infamous Barcelona netbuster was arguably the sixth goal in a historic 6-2 La Liga El Clasico win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Pique's 94th minute goal in the second-leg of the 2021 Copa del Rey semi-final against Sevilla is also one of his most special goals for Barcelona. His header made it 2-0 for the Catalans, taking the game into extra time. The Catalans went on to win 3-0 after extra time and prevailed on aggregate, 3-2.
Pique has scored 24 goals in 277 games for Barcelona across all competitions in the last decade. He is Spain and La Liga's second-most successful defender in the last decade in terms of scoring goals.
#1 Sergio Ramos - 47 goals
Sergio Ramos moved to Real Madrid from Sevilla in the 2005-06 La Liga season and has never looked back. The Spaniard is best known for his historic 93rd minute header to equalize in the Champions League final against Atletico Madrid and take the game into extra time on 1-1.
Real Madrid eventually went on to win 4-1 in extra time as Los Blancos claimed 'La Decima' in 2014. The 2013-14 La Liga season turned out to be excellent for Ramos in terms of attacking output as he netted seven goals.
Ramos has scored 47 goals in the last decade in 274 games for Real Madrid. He has scored the second-highest number of goals as a defender in the history of La Liga and the highest in the last decade.
