Elite goalscorers since 1980: Another infographic..

[Hollis]

It's a good one for data nerds - from John Burn-Murdock - statistician from the FT.. Comparing performance of top 200 goal-scorers by age, match, minutes and date.

The top goal-scorers in elite football since 1980

 

[Maltin]

While it is interesting, I'm not sure what it proves. Players nowadays play a lot more games now than in 1980 given the introduction of the Champions League and the proliferation of international games. Probably using the plot by date gives more comparable data for different eras and it's too early to tell where Mbappe and Haaland might compare to the likes of Messi and Ronaldo.

 

[stavros]

I'm not sure stats prove anything, but they can give indications from which to draw conclusions.

As you say the post-2000 period dominates, and maybe that suggest how much less equal the leagues of England, Spain, Germany and Italy have become. There have always been mighty teams - Liverpool then Man Utd, Juve and Milan, Real and Barca, and Bayern - but I'm sure the gap between those and the bottom 15 teams of their respective leagues has grown in the last twenty years.