Ronaldo, Messi, Lewandowski: Players with most calendar-year goals in each of the last 11 years
A plethora of prolific goalscorers have graced the game since the turn of the century. The 2000s saw the likes of Thierry Henry, Michael Owen and Ruud van Nistelrooy run riot. Towards the end of the decade, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi emerged on the scene.
The duo are still going strong despite being on the wrong side of 30. Meanwhile, there have been a few other prolific goalscorers emerging in the last decade. Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski, Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku have consistently scored goals aplenty.
More recently, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Braut Haaland have made their names as prolific goalscorers.
Considering the attacking talent on offer, there have been many memorable calendar-year performances, especially in the last decade. On that note, here's a look at the most prolific goalscorer in every calendar year since 2010. The tally includes goals scored for both club and country during the year.
Without further ado, let's get started:
#2010 Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina) - 60 goals
Lionel Messi had a memorable year in 2010. The Argentine scored goals galore, especially in La Liga. Messi registered 25 strikes in the second half of the 2009-10 campaign to help Barcelona successfully defend their league title.
The 2009 Ballon d'Or winner also sizzled in the Champions League. After a brace against Stuttgart, Messi starred with a four-goal salvo against Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-final. However, Barcelona were eliminated by eventual champions Inter Milan in the last four.
10 years ago today, Lionel Messi scored FOUR goals against Arsenal in the Champions League 🤩
Try defending this 🤤
https://t.co/BXi2rCAhto
Messi endured an uncharacteristically poor campaign at the 2010 FIFA World Cup with Argentina, failing to score in five games, though he assisted thrice. Nevertheless, he started the 2010-11 season on fire, netting 17 league goals to set Barcelona on their way to a La Liga three peat.
Overall, Messi scored 60 goals in 64 games during the year en route to winning his second Ballon d'Or award.
#2011 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal) - 60 goals
Cristiano Ronaldo had his first truly goal-rich year in 2011 when he amassed 60 goals in as many games for club and country.
The Portuguese began the year with 23 goals in the second half of the 2010-11 La Liga season, including four hat-tricks. However, he underwhelmed in the Champions League knockout stage, scoring only twice. Ronaldo couldn't do much as Real Madrid endured a semi-final exit against arch-rivals Barcelona.
He endured a slow start to his 2011-12 Champions League campaign as well, scoring only thrice in four games. But Ronaldo enjoyed rich dividends in La Liga, netting 20 times, including a staggering five hat-tricks.
In the process, he also brought up his 100th goal for Real Madrid across competitions. Over the next seven years, he would score 350 more.
On this day in 2011, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th Real Madrid goal.
In the 10 years that followed, he scored another 350 for the club to become their all-time top goalscorer.
Unparalleled 👑 https://t.co/BbKLYKQPoA
He also scored five times for Portugal to round off a stellar year. Thanks to his blistering start in La Liga, Ronaldo went on to win his first Spanish top-flight title later that season.
#2012 Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina) - 91 goals
In 2012, Lionel Messi produced arguably the best-ever calendar-year performance by any player in the history of the game. The Argentine scored a staggering 91 times for club and country.
During the year, Messi became the first player to breach the 50-goal mark in a La Liga season. It was also the first time anybody scored that many goals in a top-five league campaign in Europe.
However, Real Madrid beat Barcelona to the league title. In the Champions League, eventual champions Chelsea eliminated the Blaugrana in the semi-finals. Messi eventually had to settle for just the Copa Del Rey title that year.
Messi was imperious in the first half of the 2012-13 season too. He ended the year with more goals than four European bigwigs - Manchester United, PSG, Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund. What's even more impressive is that Messi conjured this tally of 91 goals during the year in just 69 games.
Throwback to 2012, when Lionel Messi (91) scored more goals than Manchester United (85), PSG (86), Chelsea (87) and Dortmund (88).
91 goals in 69 games for the GOAT. 🐐 https://t.co/n8U77f0ks7
During the year, the Argentine scored 79 goals for Barcelona and 12 for Argentina. In the process, Messi broke Gerd Muller's record of most goals (85) by a player in a calendar year. However, Messi's average of 1.32 goals per game that year was marginally shy of Muller's 1.42 (85 goals in 60 games).
Nevertheless, thanks to his blistering exploits that year, Messi became the first player to win four consecutive Ballon d'Or awards.
#2013 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal) - 69 goals
After his blistering exploits in 2011 and 2012, when the Portuguese netted at least 60 goals apiece, Cristiano Ronaldo took things up a notch in 2013.
He began the year with 20 league goals, including two hat-tricks. In the Champions League, though, there was heartbreak in store for Ronaldo and Real Madrid. Los Blancos were eliminated by Borussia Dortmund in the semis despite their Portuguese ace netting six times in the knockout stage.
However, better things were in store for Ronaldo in the first half of the 2013-14 season. The then 28-year-old netted 18 league goals to close the year. Ronaldo enjoyed another strong start to his Champions League campaign, scoring eight group-stage goals.
69 goals. 8 hat-tricks. 41 wins. But that was last year. #justdoit
youtu.be/XXjbFGHOtn0
Ronaldo also netted a Copa del Rey hat-trick and two more with Portugal, for whom he scored ten times. He closed a career-best year with a rich tally of 69 goals.
Ronaldo would win his second Ballon d'Or award that year and his first since moving to Real Madrid in 2009.