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Sergio Ramos Destroys Beckenbauer In Poll For Greatest Ever Centre-Back

Sergio Ramos Destroys Beckenbauer In Poll For Greatest Ever Centre-Back

Is Real Madrid's captain the defensive GOAT?

Alex Reid

Alex Reid

Sergio Ramos has absolutely crushed the opposition to be voted the greatest centre-back ever in a new poll.

The Real Madrid captain earned a massive 74% of all votes, with Franz Beckenbauer trailing way behind in second on 18%. Even a US president couldn't dispute this landslide victory.

Over 130,000 votes were cast in poll as Marca readers were asked to name the best ever central defender from nine candidates. Only Ramos and Beckenbauer, the Bayern Munich legend who led Germany to World Cup glory in 1974, got more than 5% of the vote.

Clear in third spot was AC Milan and Italy icon Franco Baresi, picking up 4%. After that came Ronald Koeman, Fabio Cannavaro, Daniel Passarella, Marcel Desailly, Bobby Moore and Matthias Sammer who all had 2% or less of the overall vote.

No place at all for Harry Maguire, so clearly that's some kind of massive oversight on Marca's part.

In a way, it's no surprise that Ramos - who scored his 100th Real Madrid goal this month - should crush his rivals. Modern players tend to score better in such polls, Marca is a Spanish newspaper and, let's face it, Sergio's medal collection is also pretty impressive.

"Ramos' century of goals took him one step closer to legendary status, and for the readers of Marca, that already seems to be the case," praised the outlet.

"His raft of major titles won - La Liga, the Champions League, the Copa del Rey, domestic and European Super Cups, and the World Cup - as well as his decisive influence on important matches, make him worthy of being discussed as the best central defender of all time."

Can't argue with any of that. Especially when you factor in the crucial goals he's scored, including two in four successful Champions League finals (stats most strikers would be happy with).

Some might argue that Beckenbauer also boasts a trophy cabinet full of top club and international honours, while he also helped to reinvent the centre-back position, bringing the ball out of defence and being a playmaker from deep.

Plus there are some legendary names absent from the voting options, including Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique. Who just so happen to play for Real's arch rivals Barcelona. Surely just a coincidence.

Is Ramos really the centre-back GOAT - or is this poll all wrong? Let us know in the comments.

All imagery: PA Images/Marca

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Topics: Football News, Sergio Ramos, Football, Spain, Franz Beckenbauer, Real Madrid, La Liga