Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo Outscore Nearly One in Three European Soccer Teams in 2011-12 Season

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are having one of the most amazing seasons in the history of European soccer. The Argentinean and Portuguese strikers are tied at the top of La Liga with 41 goals (a new league record), and promise to keep adding to that number as the season reaches its end.

The number is impressive. It's so impressive that the two players individually have scored more goals than almost a third of all teams in Europe's major leagues. Here is the list of teams from Europe's major leagues (England, Germany, Italy, and Spain) that could not with 11 players reach the number of goals that Messi and Ronaldo have managed. We also show, to compare, the top scorers from each league.

Spain
There are various teams in La Liga that have not been able to reach the number of the two strikers. The sixth place team in the league (and qualified to European competition), Osasuna, has only 36 goals. Another great in Spain, Sevilla, finds itself with only 40 goals — tied with Real Betis. Another seven teams find themselves with less than forty goals including the three teams headed for relegation.

England
The top scorer in England is Robin van Persie with 34 goals. In the Premier League there are ten teams with fewer goals than Messi and Ronaldo, including one of the best teams in European history: Liverpool FC. With the problems that Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll have had up top for the team, the Reds have only managed to score 40 goals during the season.

Germany
The top scorer in the Bundesliga is Mario Gomez for Bayern Munich with 25 goals. The Spanish duo of Messi and Ronaldo each has scored more than eight German teams, including Hannover 96, which reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Europa League. Like the other leagues, the Bundesliga's three relegation candidates could not reach 40 goals for the season.

Italy
The top scorer in Serie A is Zlatan Ibrahimovic with 23 goals. The Italian league holds the only undefeated team in Europe’s top Leagues with Juventus. Still, many Italian teams cannot compare to the pace kept by Messi and Ronaldo: Nine teams have failed to score. Jose Mourinho's previous team, Inter Milan, has only scored 43 goals in the season.

The trend continues in Europe, with all relegation teams failing to reach the mark of Messi and Ronaldo. A trend is clear, if Ronaldo and Messi fielded their own team they'd be able to survive relegation in all leagues (in a hypothetical world in which they don't need assists for goals and goals equal points).

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