10 records broken in Europe's top 5 leagues in the 2014/15 season
The 2014/15 season in football was yet another breathtaking, roller-coaster ride filled with drama and action. The season saw many old records tumble and new ones put up in their place. Even on the final day of the season a record was set as Barcelona were crowned European Champions and became the first club to have won the treble twice.Out of numerous small and big records that were broken across Europe’s top five leagues – the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 – here are ten notable records that were set in the recently concluded season.Honourable Mentions: Sevilla achieves a record 76 points without finishing in Champions League spotsJohn Terry becomes highest scoring defender in the Premier League – 39 goalsArsenal breaks record for most FA Cup titles – 12
#1 All-time top scorer in La Liga history: Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi has been breaking records for fun throughout his career and last season he broke another long-standing record. During Barcelona’s game against Sevilla on November 22, Messi scored a hat-trick and his second goal of the lot took him past Telmo Zarra to become La Liga’s all-time top scorer.
Zarra scored 251 goals in 278 appearances with a goal ratio of 0.90. And when Messi broke Zarra’s record which stood for over six decades, he had played more league games than Zarra had at the same stage. Nevertheless, Messi went on to widen the gap further and he now has 286 league goals in 315 matches, which also gives him goals to matches ratio of 0.90.
As things stand there is no player who can surpass Messi’s record and it is unlikely that it will be broken in the near future. Even though Cristiano Ronaldo is sixth in the list of all-time top scorers in La Liga and scores at a rate of more than one goal per game, he may not pass Messi as the Argentine is younger to him and also because Messi’s goals tally will also keep increasing with Ronaldo’s.
| # | Player | Goals | Appearances | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi | 286 | 315 | 0.90 |
| 2 | Telmo Zarra | 251 | 278 | 0.90 |
| 3 | Hugo Sanchez | 234 | 347 | 0.67 |
| 4 | Raul | 228 | 550 | 0.41 |
| 5 | Alfredo di Stefano | 227 | 329 | 0.69 |
| 6 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 225 | 200 | 1.12 |
| 7 | Cesar Rodriguez | 223 | 353 | 0.63 |
| 8 | Quini | 219 | 448 | 0.49 |
| 9 | Pahino | 210 | 278 | 0.76 |
| 10 | Edmundo Suarez | 195 | 231 | 0.84 |