Every successful trophy winning side is built on a strong foundation of a resilient defence and an efficient attack, which is able to score the goals required for champion sides to win matches. Such attacks are usually led by clinical, world class strikers.
Look at any of the great teams in football, their attacks will have been led by iconic strikers who scored the goals that led their team to glory. Brazil’s 1970’s team had Pele, Argentina had Maradona, Germany with Gerd Muller, the list goes on.
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In modern times, we have seen the likes of Thierry Henry and Ronaldo de Lima steer their teams to glory. Arsenal went through an entire season unbeaten (sounds impossible for the current version of Arsenal) in 2003 on the back of Henry’s goals. More recently, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have steered their club teams to glory.
It is essential for a club to have a world class striker on their books if they want to win titles. Europe is currently gifted with an impressive crop of world class strikers. We list the top ten strikers currently plying their trade in Europe.
10) Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) – 29 goals
Sergio Aguero’s nimble footwork and precise finishing has earned him comparisons with Argentinian legend Diego Maradona and has developed a reputation as one of the world’s premier strikers. When fit and firing, any defence in the world will struggle to contain the Argentine dynamo.
This season, Aguero’s goal output has again been hampered by multiple injuries. Correspondingly, Manchester City’s fortunes have also dropped this season, with the club currently in fourth place in the Premier League.
City’s fortunes rely on Aguero’s fitness, such is his importance to the team. In both the seasons that City won the league, Aguero has played over 30 games each, scoring over 30 goals in both seasons. He also won the Premier League Golden boot in 2014.
This season he has scored 29 goals in 42 appearances for the club, a reduced output compared to the high standards set by him although this can be attributed to injury problems.
9) Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) – 29 goals
Karim Benzema was signed by Real Madrid in 2009 after impressing with French outfit Lyon. He struggled to gain a foothold in the starting lineup under Manuel Pellegrini and Jose Mourinho as he struggled with fitness and attitude issues.
Following an injury to Gonzalo Higuain in 2010, he went on a scoring run in the Real Madrid side, continuing in the same vein since and becoming their first choice striker.
Benzema is now a part of Real Madrid’s deadly BBC (Bale Benzema Ronaldo) triumvirate. The French striker is vital in creating space for the runs of Bale and Ronaldo. His intelligent and selfless movement make him a joy to play with for his teammates.
Benzema has come into his own this season scoring goals to make up for the injury absences of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
The 28-year-old has cemented his place as one of the finest strikers in European football with 29 goals and 6 assists this season, helping Real Madrid to the Champions League final and keeping them in contention for the La Liga crown.
8) Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich) – 32 goals
Muller broke into the Bayern Munich team under the management of Louis van Gaal. Originally a right sided midfielder with an ungainly, unattractive style of play, Muller has developed into the ultimate goal poacher with an advanced appreciation of space and an unerring instinct of being in the right place at the right time.
Initially an unknown quantity, he burst onto the scene at the 2010 World Cup, becoming the tournament’s top scorer. He has since, become a mainstay in the Bayern Munich and Germany sides, consistently scoring and setting up goals.
The 25-year-old had a major contribution in Germany’s world cup triumph in 2014 where he was the tournament’s second highest goalscorer.
Under Pep Guardiola, Muller has developed his skills as a striker, becoming lethal in front of goal and developing an effective and deadly partnership with Robert Lewandowski. Muller scores all kinds of goals, ranging from the long range spectaculars to deflected shots which end up beating the keeper.
The Muller’s goals have helped Bayern to three consecutive Bundesliga titles and a Champions League title. Bayern also secured their fourth consecutive Bundesliga title and Muller has had a major hand in their success this season, scoring 32 goals in 42 appearances.
7) Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli) – 40 goals
Gonzalo Higuain is known for his poaching abilities, finishing and his acceleration in small spaces, which makes him deadly in and around the box. He has a reputation as a striker who scores goals at a steady rate.
After two ordinary seasons at Napoli, where he scored 35 goals in two seasons in the league. This season Higuain has come into his own this season scoring 40 goals in just 38 appearances in all competitions for Napoli. His goals have propelled Italy to the second spot in the Seria A table behind champions Juventus.
The Argentine’s goals for Napoli has resulted in big clubs from the major leagues in Europe queuing up for his signature. Chelsea are rumoured to be bidding upto £45 million for the Napoli striker.
6) Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund) – 40 goals
The Gabonese forward was signed by Borussia Dortmund as a replacement for the outgoing striker Robert Lewandowski. Known for his searing pace, finishing and superhero celebrations, he struggled to settle in Germany in his first two seasons but has now formed a deadly partnership with German winger Marco Reus.
This season, however, he has more than filled in Robert Lewandowski’s shoes at Borussia Dortmund. After scoring 16 and 25 goals respectively in his first two seasons, Aubameyang has evolved into one of the deadliest strikers in Europe, scoring 40 goals in 43 appearances this season, propelling them to 2nd position in the German Bundesliga.
5) Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) – 44 goals
During his time with Borussia Dortmund, Polish striker Robert Lewandowski was considered to be one of the best strikers in the Bundesliga. In his last two seasons at Dortmund, Lewandowski scored 63 goals in 90 games.
Bayern Munich came in for his services in 2014 and he left the Signal Iduna Park for the Allianz Arena on a free transfer after running out his contract at the club. At Bayern, his has taken his performances up quite a few notches, elevating his status to that of one of the best strikers in world football.
This season, the Polish striker has become the focal point for a fluid Bayern Munich attack, scoring a remarkable 44 goals in his 47 appearances for Bayern Munich. His 30 plus goals in the Bundesliga also won him the golden boot in Germany.
Lewandowski has formed a deadly partnership with German Thomas Muller and the two have combined to score over 73 goals for Bayern this season, winning them their fourth consecutive Bundesliga title and helping them to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
The Polish striker memorably scored all 5 goals in his team’s 5-1 comeback win against Wolfsburg earlier this season.
4) Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 41 goals
Messi is the third and the highest ranked Argentine on this list. La Pulga (little flea) as he is known, is famous for his dribbling, finishing, faultless passing and vision. The 28-year-old has won it all with his club FC Barcelona and is in contention to win the La Liga again with them this season.
Inspite of scoring 41 goals in 46 appearances this season, it has been an under-par season for Lionel Messi by his lofty standards as he had scored 58 goals in 55 games last season apart from winning the treble with Barcelona.
This season has been disappointing for the Argentine wizard as he was out for long periods through injury. The effect of injuries is evident as Messi is out of the top five goal scorers of Europe after a long period of time. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner will be looking to change things next season.
3) Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris-Saint Germain) – 51 goals
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been bullying defences in Europe’s top divisions since the age of 17.The Swedish striker turns 35 in October but he only seems to be getting better with age. He has won four Ligue 1 titles with Paris Saint-Germain, continuing his trend of winning league titles in every country that he has played in.
The 34-year-old has scored 51 goals in 49 appearances for the Parisiens in all competitions this season, building on his previous season’s total of 28 goals in 38 appearances. A black belt in taekwondo, Zlatan is famous for his acrobatic goals and powerful long distance shots.
So dominant have been his performances for club and country that the Swedes have incorporated the word “Zlatanera”, meaning total domination into their national language.
Paris Saint-Germain won their fourth Ligue 1 title with Zlatan in the side. His goals have been vital to all their title triumphs, with him scoring upwards of 20 goals in all his seasons at PSG. The charismatic striker is out of contract at the end of the season at PSG and will surely not be short of suitors.
2) Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – 52 goals
Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal-scoring exploits have turned him into a household name around the world. Often rated as the best player in the world alongside La Liga rival Lionel Messi, he has scored more than 250 goals for Real Madrid since joining them from Manchester United in 2009.
He has an overflowing trophy cabinet having won three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, two Football League cups, one La Liga title, two Copas del Rey, two Champions League titles, one UEFA Super Cup and two FIFA club world cups in addition to his three Ballon d’Ors.
Ronaldo, in his final season with Manchester United scored an outrageous 42 goals. Bought for a then world record fee of £80 million from Manchester United, Ronaldo has justified every penny spent on him.
The three-time Ballon d’Or winner proved his worth to his team again with his hat-trick against Wolfsburg which put Real Madrid through to the Champions League semi-finals.
The Portuguese’s form shows no sign of abating, having scored an astonishing 52 goals in 51 appearances for Real Madrid this season, with one of those goals coming in four pre-season appearances in the International Champions Cup.
Ronaldo is on course to equal his own Champions League goal-scoring record of 17 goals having led them to the finals against arch rivals Atletico Madrid in a repeat of the 2013 finals.
1) Luis Suarez (Barcelona) – 62 goals
The Uruguayan enjoyed three goal-laden but trophy-less seasons with Liverpool. His goals had almost taken Liverpool to a much awaited first top-flight title in 23 years before skipper Steven Gerrard’s unfortunate slip in that crucial game against Chelsea.
Inspite of racism and biting controversies, Barcelona soon came in for his goals and he was bought by the Catalans for £75 million. It has been a gamble well worth the outlay as Suarez helped them to the treble in his first season at the club, forming arguably the world’s best forward line alongside Brazilian superstar Neymar and Lionel Messi.
This season, the Uruguayan has taken his goal-scoring to another level. He has scored 62 goals in 56 appearances with three goals coming in four International Champions Cup appearances in pre-season.
He leads Cristiano Ronaldo by four goals in the race for the Pichichi trophy (awarded to the highest goalscorer in Spain) this season. The Uruguayan has been so ridiculously good that he scored eight goals within a week, four each against Sporting Gijon and Deportivo in consecutive games for the Catalans.
