They pass when they want - Europe’s best ball-playing centre-backs

Being a central-defender in the modern game might not seem any different from yonder year, but the reality is that the position continues to morph and change as the game does. Nowadays—in contrast to previous generations—central defenders are required to be as much of a ball-player and distributor as they are an enforcer, with the possession-based systems of teams like Barcelona and Bayern Munich creating a number of strong, ball-playing, centre backs.

So who are the best ball-playing central defenders across Europe? Read on to see the centre-backs who have completed the most passes.

Andrea Barzagli, Juventus, 546 Successful Passes

Andrea Barzagali begins kicks-off our list, the Juve man has completed 546 passes, with a pass accuracy of 91 per cent. The Italian has also won an impressive 67% of his tackles.

Sergio Ramos, Real Madrid, 557 Successful Passes

One of the biggest reasons behind Real Madrid’s defeat to Barcelona last weekend in El Clasico was the removal of Sergio Ramos from Madrid’s back-line. Ramos has completed over 500 total passes in his nine appearances for Los Blancos this year with an average completion rate of 90 percent.

Perhaps even more remarkable is that he’s done this without compromising the quick, counter-attacking nature of Madrid which sees him play a number of long-balls, with his average pass length standing at 22m. He might not create the same number of goalscoring chances as other defenders (having made just four key passes) all season, but his completion rate in light of how many long passes he makes is simply unrivaled across La Liga.