Top ten defensive goal-scorers in Europe this term.
Sergio Ramos bagged a first-half brace last night as Real Madrid blew away defending champions Bayern Munich to book a place in their first European Cup final since 2002.
The Spanish international has now found the net three times in his last two appearances for the La Liga giants.
Following Ramos’ impressive attacking exploits, Caughtoffside has compiled a list of the top 10 goalscoring defenders that are currently plying their trade in Europe.
10. Sergio Ramos
Current club: Real Madrid
Age: 28
The pacy centre-back has been capped 115 times by Spain at senior level, scoring nine international goals and picking up two European Championships and a World Cup along the way.
Although his last three Real Madrid goals have all been headers, he displayed his fine ball-striking technique during training earlier this week when he bent the ball into the back of the net from behind the goal line.
9. Mehdi Benatia
Current club: Roma
Age: 27
Having moved to the Stadio Olimpico last summer from Udinese, for whom he scored six league goals, Benatia has netted five times in his first 30 Serie A appearances for Roma, who boast the best defensive record in Italy’s top division this season.
Benatia recently revealed that he turned down the chance to join Chelsea during Jose Mourinho’s first spell as manager at Stamford Bridge. However, he could soon get another opportunity to play in England, as Manchester United have been strongly linked with an interest in his services.
8. Steven Caulker
Current club: Cardiff City
Age: 22
Caulker’s £8m exit from Tottenham Hotspur in July came as a surprise to many followers of football. He made 26 first-team starts for the White Hart Lane outfit last season and had been widely hailed as one of the finest players to emerge from the club’s youth network in recent years.
Since joining Cardiff, Caulker has started all 36 of the Bluebirds’ Premier League matches, contributing five goals, which makes him the Welsh side’s third topscorer, behind Jordan Mutch and Fraizer Campbell.
Caulker also has an impressive strike-rate at international level. He bagged two goals in 10 appearances for England’s Under 21s and marked his senior Three Lions debut by getting on the scoresheet in a 4-2 defeat to Sweden in November 2012.
7. Naldo
Current club: Wolfsburg
Age: 31
At 6ft 6in, four-time Brazil international Naldo is a menace in the box at set pieces. He also has a real hammer of a right foot and is not shy about taking the odd free-kick.
Naldo came to Europe in 2005 when he joined Werder Bremen from Juventude. In seven seasons at Weserstadion, he scored 22 goals, including a stunning hat-trick during a 6-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in 2006.
He left Bremen for Wolfsburg in 2012 and has so far netted eight times for his current employers.
6. Kelvin Leerdam
Current club: Vitesse Arnhem
Age: 23
Right-back Leerdam, who can also operate as a defensive midfielder, has struck eight goals in 25 Eredivisie games this season.
He only joined Vitesse from Feyenoord last summer, but he is already on the radar of Newcastle United, according to the Daily Mail.
5. Layvin Kurzawa
Current club: Monaco
Age: 21
Despite being surrounded by some of the most expensive players in world football, energetic French left-back Kurzawa has been one of Monaco’s best players this season.
He has netted five goals and made three assists in 28 Ligue 1 appearances, as well as being named as man of the match by Who Scored in six of those outings.
4. Seamus Coleman
Current club: Everton
Age: 25
Coleman was signed by Everton in one of the best value deals of all time. He cost the Toffees just £60,000 when he arrived at Goodison Park from Sligo Rovers in January 2009.
He has been a key member of Roberto Martinez’s side this season and has made more Premier League starts -34- than any other outfield player at the club.
Operating at either right-back or right wing-back, Coleman has been one of Everton’s biggest attacking threats. He has found the net six times in the league. Romelu Lukaku is the only Toffees player that has scored more top-flight goals than the Republic of Ireland international this term.
3. Branislav Ivanovic
Current club: Chelsea
Age: 30
Ivanovic may have only netted three times so far this season, but he has scored 24 club goals since joining Chelsea from Lokomotiv Moscow in January 2008.
The big Serbian, who also has seven senior international strikes to his name, tends to score important goals too.
He notched in extra time to complete the Blues’ famous Champions League turnaround against Napoli in 2012, bagged a last-minute winner in last season’s Europa League final and scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory at Man City earlier this year.
2. Leighton Baines
Current club: Everton
Age: 29
Having displaced Chelsea’s Ashley Cole, Baines is poised to go to this summer’s World Cup as England’s first-choice left-back.
The free-kick and penalty specialist has scored 28 goals in almost seven seasons at Everton since joining the Toffees from Wigan Athletic in August 2007.
Baines was the subject of a drawn-out transfer saga last summer, as Manchester United tried in vain to reunite the full-back with David Moyes. He has since signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract at Goodison Park.
1. Martin Skrtel
Current club: Liverpool
Age: 29
Skrtel has scored seven Premier League goals for Liverpool this season, making him the division’s more prolific defender.
The Slovakian centre-back, who has scored five times in 66 senior internationals, has also netted three own goals.
Despite his trio of defensive slips, Skrtel has helped the Reds keep eight clean sheets during his 34 top-flight appearances this term.