The Barcelona and Real Madrid legends do not top this particular list.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are two of the greatest goalscorers in the history of football but both have been beaten to top spot in a list of goals-per-game ratio in the 21st century by one player.

The Argentina and Portugal internationals have written their names in the history books thanks to their exploits on the pitch over the past 20 years, which has seen them share 13 Ballon d’Ors between them.

Messi came through the youth team ranks at Barcelona, where he remained with until 2021, winning nine La Liga titles and four Champions League crowns.

The forward spent two seasons in France with PSG before moving to the MLS last summer to join Inter Miami, where he remains to this day.

Ronaldo burst onto the scene with Sporting CP, before moving to Manchester United in 2003 for around £12 million, and went on to win three Premier League titles and the Champions League at Old Trafford.

A then world record £80 million transfer to Real Madrid followed in 2009, and over nearly a decade at the Santiago Bernabeu, the Portuguese won two La Liga titles and four more Champions League crowns.

Ronaldo had a spell at Juventus which yielded two Serie A titles in three years, followed by a second stint at United, and he is currently with Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr at the age of 39.

A list has now emerged online showing the goals-per-games ratios from players in the 21st century – but neither Ronaldo nor Messi sit top of it.

Retired Sweden international Zlatan Ibrahimovic is 10th with a ratio of 0.58 after 567 goals in 980 matches, while ex-Liverpool and Barcelona forward Luis Suarez is ninth with 0.60 after 576 strikes in 968 games.

Ruud van Nistelrooy boasts the same 0.60 ratio as Suarez, but sits eighth thanks to 277 goals in 463 games.

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Neymar sits seventh with a ratio of 0.61 following 440 goals across 719 games and Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane sixth with a slightly higher figure of 0.63 following 407 strikes in 644 professional fixtures.

Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski makes the top five with a number of 0.70 following finding the back of the net on 654 occasions in 928 games.

New Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe is fourth with 0.72 following 332 strikes in 462 matches.

Ronaldo is third on the list with a ratio of 0.73, following 987 goals in 1233 matches, while Messi is second thanks to a figure of 0.78, having netted 838 times in 1069 matches.

And the man to clinch top spot is none other than Manchester City goal machine Erling Haaland, who boasts a goals-to-games ratio of 0.82, following 257 goals in just 315 games in his professional career so far.

It’s a ratio you can only imagine will go up in the years to come.