We’ve seen several truly great teams and a handful of truly legendary players during the opening 20 years of the 21st Century.
Pep Guardiola’s revered Barcelona side, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and Inter teams, Jurgen Klopp’s current Liverpool side immediately spring to mind.
As for the players, well… the century so far has been dominated by two players in particular.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are, in the eyes of some football fans, the two best footballers we’ve ever seen.
Throw in the likes of Neymar, Andres Iniesta, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Xavi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thierry Henry etc. and it’s safe to say we’ve lived through a golden era.
But which teams have scored the most goals since 2000?
Transfermarkt have crunched the numbers and some of the teams that have made the top 30 might surprise you.
30. Leicester City (997 games, 1448 goals)
The 2016 Premier League champions scrape into 30th place, thanks in part to Jamie Vardy’s 130 goals.
29. Sheffield United (1001 games, 1449 goals)
The Blades have scored one more goal than Leicester this century.
28. Leeds United (1047 games, 1492 goals)
Newly-promoted Leeds United will aim to move further up this list by scoring goals in the Premier League again from the start of next season.
27. Villarreal (1034 games, 1493 goals)
Remember that Villarreal side of the mid-2000s with Juan Roman Riquelme dictating the tempo of games? They were class to watch.
26. AS Monaco (967 games, 1498 goals)
Monaco won the French league in 2000 and 2017. The Ligue 1 outfit have also performed pretty well in the Champions League this century.
25. Napoli (948 games, 1505 goals)
The likes of Dries Mertens, Marek Hamsik, Edinson Cavani and Gonzalo Higuain have contributed heavily to Napoli’s tally.
24. Marseille (1002 games, 1509 goals)
Marseille have won one Ligue 1 title this century, in 2010. Mamadou Niang, with 18 goals, was the league’s top scorer.
23. Schalke (934 games, 1525 goals)
Schalke have had some decent forwards at the club since 2000, including Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Kevin Kuranyi and Ebbe Sand.
22. Werder Bremen (875 games, 1575 goals)
The 2004 Bundesliga champions also won the DFB-Pokal in 2004 and 2009.
21. Lazio (995 games, 1596 goals)
Ciro Immobile is currently banging in the goals for Lazio. The 30-year-old even has more Serie A goals than Cristiano Ronaldo this season.
20. Atletico Madrid (1074 games, 1682 goals)
In 20th place, it’s Atletico Madrid, who have been transformed since Diego Simeone arrived in 2011. They’ve had some exceptional strikers this century. Antoine Griezmann, Fernando Torres, Sergio Aguero, Diego Forlan, Radamel Falcao, Diego Costa… the list goes on and on.
19. AC Milan (1025 games, 1683 goals)
AC Milan were arguably the best team in Europe during the mid-2000s. Andriy Shevchenko and Filippo Inzaghi used to score goals for fun.
18. Valencia (1083 games, 1709 goals)
David Villa and Roberto Soldado are Valencia’s two highest goalscorers this century.
17. Bayer Leverkusen (929 games, 1727 goals)
It’s surprising to see Bayer Leverkusen this high on the list, although they’ve had a couple of great teams since 2000. Stefan Kiessling and Dimitar Berbatov netted 253 of the 1727 goals.
16. Borussia Dortmund (921 games, 1727 goals)
Dortmund have had some great goalscorers on their books over the past 20 years including Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Robert Lewandowski. Now they have the exceptional young Erling Haaland in their ranks.
15. Sevilla (1077 games, 1764 goals)
Frederic Kanoute was a goal machine for Sevilla, as were the likes of Luis Fabiano and Alvaro Negredo.
14. Tottenham (1042 games, 1772 goals)
If Harry Kane stays at Tottenham, he’ll surely become the club’s all-time top scorer. The England international, 26, is currently third on the list with 185 goals to his name.
13. Inter Milan (1040 games, 1775 goals)
Mauro Icardi, Christian Vieri, Diego Milito and Adriano are among Inter’s highest goalscorers since 2000.
12. AS Roma (1013 games, 1779 goals)
The legendary Francesco Totti is responsible for many of these goals, but the likes of Edin Dzeko, Mirko Vucinic and Daniele De Rossi have also chipped in.
11. Juventus (1038 games, 1897 goals)
Just missing out on the top 10, it’s Juventus. They’ve had some top strikers since 2000. Alessandro Del Piero and, of course, Ronaldo are among the best of them.
10. Lyon (1069 games, 1938 goals)
Alexandre Lacazette, Juninho Pernambucano, Bafetimbi Gomis, Lisandro Lopez, Sidney Govou, Nabil Fekir, Karim Benzema… all top players who scored goals consistently for Lyon.
9. Manchester City (1024 games, 1963 goals)
The Premier League side have had some wonderful players since 2008. Sergio Aguero is one of them and the Argentine is City’s all-time leading scorer with an impressive 254 goals.
8. Paris Saint-Germain (1077 games, 2033 goals)
The likes of Cavani, Zlatan, Mbappe and Neymar have all smashed it at PSG this century.
7. Liverpool (1135 games, 2059 goals)
Liverpool may have only just won the Premier League for the first time but they’ve still had some top goalscorers since 2000. Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and now Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
6. Manchester United (1169 games, 2226 goals)
Wayne Rooney became Man Utd’s all-time leading scorer this century, while the likes of Ronaldo and Ruud van Nistelrooy also scored regularly for the Red Devils.
5. Chelsea (1156 games, 2227 goals)
Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Eden Hazard are responsible for many of Chelsea’s 2227 goals.
4. Arsenal (1164 games, 2254 goals)
In fourth place, somewhat unexpected, it’s Arsenal. Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie, Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez all among the former Gunners who consistently found the back of the net.
3. Bayern Munich (1060 games, 2496 goals)
It’s no surprise to see Bayern Munich in the top three. Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery have all scored a hatful of goals for the German giants this century.
2. Real Madrid (1162 games, 2633 goals)
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 450 of Real Madrid’s 2633 goals - in just 438 games! Truly extraordinary. The likes of Raul, Benzema and Gareth Bale also boast impressive records for Los Blancos.
1. Barcelona (1193 games, 2730 goals)
But in first place, it’s Barcelona, who largely have Messi to thank for their ridiculous record.
The Argentine has netted a mind-blowing 631 of those 2730 goals. He’s probably played a part in at least another 500, too.
