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Stats: Which defender has scored the most goals in the last 10 seasons in Europe?

(L-R) John Terry, Sergio Ramos and Leighton Baines make it to the Top 10

While their primary duty is to stop opponents from scoring goals, defenders who score goals are a bonus to any team. Be it set-pieces or counter attacks, fans and managers love a defender who can put the ball in the back of the net. So who has been the best goalscoring defender in the past 10 seasons in Europe’s top 5 leagues?

According to Opta, it is none other than Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos. The Spanish international, who helped Los Blancos to La Decima last season with arguably his most important goal in his Madrid career, tops the list with 40 goals between the 2005/06 and 2014/15 seasons. Of the 40 goals, 26 were headers.

Next on the list is Naldo who has played for both Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg in the past 10 seasons. He is only three goals behind Ramos. Napoli's Christian Maggio rounds off the top three. He scored a third of his goals for Sampdoria.

Chelsea’s ever-present centre back John Terry is fourth on the list and it is highly unlikely that he can catch up to Ramos. Fellow English defender Leighton Baines is fifth though he has never scored from a header. The Everton full back is a free kick specialist and is also the designated penalty taker for the Merseyside club.

Two Hamburger SV defenders Westerman and Jansen are next in the list followed by Bayern Munich’s Javi Martinez and Auxerre’s Sebastien Puygrenier. Surprisingly, Joan Capdevila who hasn’t scored in the last five seasons is still in the top 10 thanks to his goals at Deportivo and Villarreal. 

MOST GOALS BY DEFENDERS – 2005/06 TO 2014/15
RANK DEFENDER CURRENT CLUB GOALS HEADERS
1 Sergio Ramos Real Madrid 40 26
2 Naldo Wolfsburg 37 16
3 Christian Maggio Napoli 31 10
4 John Terry Chelsea 27 19
5 Leighton Baines Everton 26 0
  Heiko Westermann Hamburg SV 26 12
7 Marcell Jansen Hamburg SV 24 1
8 Javi Martinez Bayern Munich 23 16
  Sebastien Puygrenier Auxerre 23 12
  Joan Capdevila Lierse SK 23 5
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