Top 30 goalscorers in the Big 5 leagues in the 2000s (2000/01 - 2009/10)

There have been plenty of elite goalscoring talents that have graced the top five European football leagues since the turn of the millennium and we take a look at the 30 most lethal marksmen in the first decade of the 2000s.

The top five elite football leagues are generally accepted as the Premier League in England, Spain's La Liga, the Italian Serie A, the Bundesliga in Germany and France's Ligue 1.

Due to the prestige of playing at the pinnacle of the football pyramid, along with the immense finances on offer for those talented enough to ply their trade there, the 'Big 5' leagues have long attracted the greatest football players on the planet.

• Thierry Henry
• Samuel Eto'o
• Francesco Totti
• Ruud van Nistelrooy
• Pauleta
• David Villa
• Roy Makaay
• Luca Toni
• Fernando Torres
• Raul
• Diego Forlan
• Alberto Gilardino
• Claudio Pizarro
• David Trezeguet
• Didier Drogba
• Miroslav Klose
• Djibril Cisse
• Alessandro Del Pierro
• Dimitar Berbatov
• Frederic Kanoute
• Frank Lampard
• Andriy Shevchenko
• Michael Owen
• Kevin Kuranyi
• Marco Di Vaio
• Cristiano Ronaldo
• Raul Tamudo
• Robbie Keane
• Ronaldinho
• Wayne Rooney

At the turn of the century, following Manchester United's UEFA Champions League win, English football was on the rise but La Liga and Real Madrid were still in the ascendancy.

In the first few years of the decade some prolific goalscorers emerged in La Liga, including Raul, Fernando Torres, David Villa and Samuel Eto'o.

England had two UEFA Champions League winners during the decade, with rivals Liverpool and Manchester United both lifting the trophy. Around this time the riches of the Premier League began to sky rocket, with major TV deals allowing English clubs to recruit top talent from around the football world.

Thierry Henry was, and remains, one of the Premier League's greatest superstars, he was joined in the division by top talents such as Ruud van Nistelrooy, Didier Drogba, Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane.

Elite homegrown talents also emerged in this period including Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Ballon d'Or winner Michael Owen.

The Premier League also saw the emergence of arguably one of the greatest football players of all time in the early 2000s; Cristiano Ronaldo joined Manchester United from Sporting in Portugal and quickly took the league, and the world, by storm.

Ronaldo, one of the greatest goalscorers in football history, later joined Real Madrid in La Liga, where he and Barcelona's Lionel Messi began one of the most iconic rivalries in football history.

Darren Durber

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