Fans Have Ranked The Top 50 Defenders Of All Time

Football fans have ranked the 20 greatest defenders of all time and it's Italian legend Paolo Maldini who comes out on top.

The 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. Marcelo

49. Maicon

48. Paul Breitner

47. Riccardo Ferri

46. Antonio Cabrini

45. Philipp Lahm

44. Miodrag Belodedici

43. Karl-Heinz Schnellinger

42. Jaap Stam

41. Andreas Brehme

40. Carles Puyol

39. Tarcisio Burgnich

38. Gary Neville

37. Wim Suurbier

36. Dani Alves

35. Hans-Peter Briegel

34. Roberto Carlos

33. Phil Neal

32. Jurgen Kohler

31. Morten Olsen

30. Fabio Cannavaro

29. Roberto Rosato

28. Jamie Carragher

27. Thiago Silva

26. Carlos Alberto

25. Marius Tresor

24. Giuseppe Bergomi

23. Alan Hansen

22. Nilton Santos

21. Claudio Gentile

20. Aldair

19. Sergio Ramos

18. Manfred Kaltz

17. Lucio

16. Lilian Thuram

15. Mauro Tassotti

14. Fulvio Collovati

13. Gerard Pique

12. Alesandro Costacurta

11. Ruud Krol

10. Alessandro Nesta

9. Daniel Passarella

8. Cesare Maldini

7. Giacinto Facchetti

6. Frank Rijkaard

5. Bobby Moore

4. Cafu

3. Franz Beckenbauer

2. Franco Baresi

1. Paolo Maldini

Spanish duo Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique are the only two active players to feature on the list.

The pair have become Barcelona and Real Madrid legends in their careers and it's Pique who comes out on top in the rankings, placing 13th and six places ahead of Ramos.

For Premier League fans who have been wrapped up in the Nemanja Vidic vs Virgil van Dijk debate, both men are one place apart but fail to make the top 50.

Vidic comes in at 64th respectively while van Dijk is 65th.

But 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.

Who do you think is the greatest defender of all time?

Let us know in the comments.