The La Liga is one of the most popular football leagues in the world, let alone a football league. It is the highest level of the football league system in Spain.
Over the decades, the league has witnessed some of the best international football stars playing for its club members. While some of the players went on to become legends, the league also gave some of the greatest rivalries to the fans.
The El Classico- the unprecedented fixture between Barcelona and Real Madrid- is one of the greatest rivalries in the sporting history of the world.
The rivalry is not just limited to clubs but also to players. Football icons like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been pitted against one another.
While Messi had been a powerful force at Barcelona, Ronaldo was a force to reckon with at Real Madrid.
Both the players have consistently displayed remarkable goal-scoring prowess over the years in the La Liga. The question is who has scored the most goals in La Liga, Barcelona or Real Madrid:
The answer is Lionel Messi!
Messi has scored 474 in 520 appearances for FC Barcelona. He is the all-time top scorer in the league, which is unlikely to be broken in near future. He won six Ballon d’Or awards with Barcelona- the record for a single club.
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On the other hand, Ronaldo has scored 311 times for Real Madrid that came in 292 appearances. He won four of his five Ballon d’Or awards during his stay in the Spanish Capital.
Here’re the all-time scorers in La Liga history
| Rank | Player | Goals | Apps | First | Last | Club(s) (goals/apps) |
| 1 | Lionel Messi | 474 | 520 | 2004 | 2021 | Barcelona |
| 2 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 311 | 292 | 2009 | 2018 | Real Madrid |
| 3 | Telmo Zarra | 251 | 277 | 1940 | 1955 | Athletic Bilbao |
| 4 | Karim Benzema | 238 | 439 | 2009 | 2023 | Real Madrid |
| 5 | Hugo Sánchez | 234 | 347 | 1981 | 1994 | Atlético Madrid (54/111), Real Madrid (164/207), Rayo Vallecano (16/29) |
| 6 | Raúl | 228 | 550 | 1994 | 2010 | Real Madrid |
| 7 | Alfredo Di Stéfano | 227 | 329 | 1953 | 1966 | Real Madrid (216/282), Espanyol (11/47) |
| 8 | César | 221 | 353 | 1940 | 1960 | Granada (23/24), Barcelona (190/287), Cultural Leonesa (3/15), Elche (5/27) |
| 9 | Quini | 219 | 448 | 1968 | 1987 | Sporting Gijón (165/348), Barcelona (54/100) |
| 10 | Pahiño | 212 | 278 | 1943 | 1956 | Celta Vigo (57/82), Real Madrid (111/124), Deportivo La Coruña (46/72) |
