Messi is the best player in La Liga

Barca superstar leads the way, with Cristiano Ronaldo ranked 17th in a new study of players who have played in La Liga.

The study was conducted by the Spanish Football History and Statistics Center.

According to the results announced by the head of the research team Jose Antonio Ortega yesterday, Lionel Messi received the highest score with 545 points. Following the Argentine superstar are Raul Gonzalez with 528 points, Cesar Rodriguez with 524 points, Telmo Zarra with 493 points and Quini with 488 points.

Messi is far ahead of Ronaldo according to research results on players who have played in La Liga in history. Photo: AFP.

Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano is fifth with 481 points. Meanwhile, Real's all-time top scorer and Messi's main rival in every individual title race over the past decade, Cristiano Ronaldo, is only 17th with 415 points.

Ronaldo is the second highest-rated active player, behind Messi. Next to him on the list of active players is Athletic Bilbao striker Aritz Aduriz. And if you count the entire history of La Liga, the veteran striker is ranked 67th.

* Messi's talent in La Liga last season.

The study's scoring is based on each player's effectiveness, including minutes played per season, goals scored, penalties or own goals, red cards...

An expert from the Spanish Football History and Statistics Research Center told AS: "All evaluations are analyzed by a unified computer system to measure the player's effectiveness through the seasons."

* Ronaldo's talent in La Liga 2016-2017 season.

9,280 players, including 854 goalkeepers, were studied in the nearly 90-year history of La Liga. According to the research team members, Messi is highly regarded by the five-time Ballon d'Or winner as the only player to have scored more than 400 goals at the time of the study. The 30-year-old striker currently has 507 goals, of which 349 were scored in La Liga.

"Technique, desire, intelligence and ability on the pitch are Messi's outstanding advantages," said research team leader Ortega. "These are also the factors that help him become the most valuable player in the history of Spanish football."

According to VNE