Football fans have ranked the 20 greatest defenders of all time and it is Italian legend Paolo Maldini who comes out on top.
The former AC Milan star spent a staggering 25 years at the San Siro, winning 7 Serie A titles and 5 European Cups.
He dominates the rankings earning over 3000 more upvotes than former teammate Franco Baresi.
Check out the top 50 courtesy of Ranker below.
50. Diego Godin
49. Ciro Ferrara
48. Javier Zanetti
47. Hans-Peter Briegel
46. Jamie Carragher
45. Jaap Stam
44. Morten Olsen
43. Manfred Kaltz
42. Emlyn Hughes
41. Andreas Brehme
40. Gerard Pique
39. Maicon
38. Aldair
37. Dani Alves
36. Philipp Lahm
35. Antonio Cabrini
34. Paul Breitner
33. Nilton Santos
32. Carles Puyol
31. Gary Neville
30. Marcelo
29. Fabio Cannavaro
28. Virgil van Dijk
27. Roberto Carlos
26. Jurgen Kohler
25. Sol Campbell
24. Phil Neal
23. Ruud Krol
22. Wim Suurbier
21. Claudio Gentile
20. Thiago Silva
19. Lucio
18. Giuseppe Bergomi
17. Alan Hansen
16. Sergio Ramos
15. Luis Pereira
14. Lilian Thuram
13. Fulvio Collovati
12. Mauro Tassotti
11. Alessandro Nesta
10. Alessandro Costacurta
9. Giacinto Facchetti
8. Daniel Passarella
7. Frank Rijkaard
6. Bobby Moore
5. Cesare Maldini
4. Cafu
3. Franz Beckenbauer
2. Franco Baresi
1. Paolo Maldini
The list belongs to Maldini and if you ever watched him play, you can understand why.
He played 902 games for AC Milan in his career as well as 126 times for Italy, meaning he is the true definition of consistency.
‘Il Capitano’ taught an entire generation that defending could be as breathtaking as attacking if you were one of the best.
Maldini and runner-up on the list Baresi were part of the famous Milan side that went 58 games unbeaten from 1991 to 1993.
The pair played together 196 times and conceded only 23 goals; that’s a goal every 8.5 games.
It’s clear to see why many fans think Maldini is the true ‘GOAT’ when it comes to defending.
