Cristiano Ronaldo 60th 

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Europe’s top-five leagues have dominated club football – certainly on the continent itself – for a long time now. Of the 23 clubs to have won the Champions League, or the European Cup as it used to be called, just eight of them are clubs outside of the top-five leagues. Among them only Ajax have won it more than twice. The last non-top-five league team to win the competition was Liga Portugal’s Porto, 22 years ago, back in the 2003/04 campaign. This, of course, supports the argument that to win a top-five league title in modern football is mightily tough.

Whilst some might argue that it’s perhaps easier to win France’s Ligue 1 than England’s Premier League or Spain’s LaLiga, lifting the title in any of those five divisions is some achievement. But which players have tasted that glory the most down the years? Here at Transfermarkt, we have calculated the all-time players with the most league titles in a top-five league division (that’s Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1). Some legendary names crop up on the list.

The players with the most top five league titles

Leading the way are three players with as many as 13 titles. One-club man Ryan Giggs spent 21 years at Manchester United as the club enjoyed the most successful period in their history under Sir Alex Ferguson. In that time they won as many as 13 Premier League titles stretching from 1992/93 until 2012/13. Both Thomas Müller and Kingsley Coman, both reached 13 top-five league titles with Bayern Munich in their latest title triumph last term. The German club legend has won all of those in the Bundesliga, whilst the Frenchman has won nine Bundesliga titles, two Serie As and two Ligue 1s. There is then five players who have won 12 top-five league titles.

The icon Lionel Messi won 10 LaLiga titles with Barcelona, before winning Ligue 1 twice with PSG. David Alaba lifted 10 Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich, whilst adding two LaLiga titles with Real Madrid. Real Madrid legend Paco Gento won 12 LaLiga titles with ‘Los Blancos’ back in the 1950’s and 60’s. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer claimed his 12th Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich last season, whilst Robert Lewandowski won his second LaLiga title with Barcelona, to add to his 10 Bundesliga titles with Bayern and Borussia Dortmund.

There are then another four players with 11 titles: Paul Scholes, Arjen Robben, Thiago Alcántara and Gianluigi Buffon. Interestingly of the 16 players to have won a top-five league title 10 or more times, only Buffon and Zlatan Ibrahimović (10 titles) have failed to also win the Champions League. The great Cristiano Ronaldo is as far down on the list as joint 60th, having won a top-five league title just seven times across his sensational career.

However, the Portuguese superstar is among the 24 players to have won the title in three of Europe’s top five leagues. To date, no player has managed the feat of winning it in four of the five divisions. As you can see in the graphic above, the list of winners in three different countries includes other legendary names such as David Beckham, Thierry Henry, and Eden Hazard.