The discussion was sparked once again when Cristiano Ronaldo, in an interview with Edu Aguirre on El Chiringuito TV, declared himself the greatest footballer of all time, explaining why he believes he stands above everyone else. Sánchez, however, had a different take. In an interview with Fútbol Picante, the Mexican legend responded to Ronaldo’s claim:

“He’s definitely one of the best, but he said, ‘I think,’ and when you say ‘I think,’ it means you’re not fully sure. But what else is he supposed to say about himself? That’s fine,” Sánchez remarked.

Rather than siding with either Ronaldo or Messi, Sánchez went on to name the player he considers the true GOAT: “If you ask me who the best player in history is, for me, it’s Pelé.”

The journey of Hugo Sánchez

Hugo Sánchez is widely regarded as one of the greatest soccer players in Mexico’s history and a Real Madrid legend. Born on July 11, 1958, in Mexico City, he began his professional career with Pumas UNAM, where he quickly emerged as a lethal striker. His success with the club, including a league title in the 1976-77 season, paved the way for his move to Europe.

In 1981, Sánchez signed with Atlético Madrid, where he established himself as one of LaLiga’s most feared goal scorers. His acrobatic finishes and signature bicycle kicks caught the attention of Real Madrid, which secured his transfer in 1985. During his time with Los Blancos, Sánchez reached his peak, winning five consecutive LaLiga titles and claiming the Pichichi Trophy five times as the league’s top scorer. His 1989-90 season remains legendary, as he netted 38 league goals—all from open play, without a single penalty.

After his dominant spell with Real Madrid, Sánchez played for several clubs, including América and Atlante in Mexico, as well as teams in the United States and Austria. Although his career began to decline in the 1990s, he continued to showcase his goal-scoring instincts until retiring in 1997. On the international stage, he represented Mexico in three World Cups (1978, 1986, and 1994), though he never managed to lead El Tri past the quarterfinals.

Post retirement

Following his retirement, Sánchez transitioned into coaching, achieving notable success with Pumas UNAM by leading them to back-to-back league titles in 2004. He also managed the Mexican national team from 2006 to 2008, though his tenure ended in disappointment after failing to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Despite mixed results as a manager, his legacy as a player remains unquestioned—cementing his place as one of the greatest soccer strikers in LaLiga history and an icon of Mexican football.

Social media posts and praise from all over the baseball and sports community poured in as the news of his death comes on the eve of the Dodgers‘ game against the New York Yankees for the MLB World Series.

Mexican soccer icon Hugo Sánchez called Fernando Valenzuela, “a person who served as a sports symbol for us,” on ESPN’s Futbol Picante, adding, “When they watched a match with the three (Fernando, Julio César Chávez, and Hugo Sánchez), the country would come to a standstill. Now Fernando has stopped us all.”

Fernando Valenzuela Stats

Fernando Valenzuela played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball, 11 of them for the Los Angeles Dodgers at the height of his career. El Toro also played for the California Angels (1991), Baltimore Orioles (1993), Philadelphia Phillies (1994), San Diego Padres (1995–1997), and lastly, the St. Louis Cardinals (1997).

His MLB all-time record stands at 173-153 with over 2,000 strikeouts and a 3.54 ERA. Among his accolades, Valenzuela was a 6-time All-Star from 1981 to 1986, won the World Series in 1981, and also received the National League Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards in 1981.

He was the NL wins leader in 1986, pitched a no-hitter in June of 1990, and had his number 34 retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Fernando Valenzuela influence on MLB and Latinos

However, his most significant legacy was stimulating Latino enthusiasm for MLB, leading to increased attendance at his games and boosting TV and radio coverage across Mexico. In 1981, eleven of his twelve starts at Dodger Stadium sold out. His fandom was called “Fernandomania.”

“Cristiano Ronaldo scored one bicycle kick and it looks like he scored the 35 that I did. Cristiano scored only one, I scored 35 and they want to put him at the same level as me with the bicycle kicks,” the former striker said.

Sanchez was referring to the iconic goal the Portuguese star recorded against Juventus in a UEFA Champions League game played on April 3, 2018. Ronaldo pulled off a memorable bicycle kick that Gianluigi Buffon couldn’t save, drawing praise even from the home fans. That night, Juve fans applauded Cristiano.

What Sanchez claims is that, while Ronaldo’s goal was pretty fantastic, he scored far more bicycle kicks than the 5x Ballon d’Or winner. Even so, it’s safe to say CR7’s goal against the Old Lady is much more famous for the soccer community.

Ronaldo overtook a record from Sanchez

Sanchez may feel like his 35 bicycle kicks are quite overlooked compared to Ronaldo’s goal in 2018, but the truth is Cristiano has already overshadowed the Mexican legend with a more important record.

Sanchez used to be Real Madrid’s top foreign scorer with 202 goals, until Ronaldo surpassed him. The Portuguese superstar found the net on an impressive 451 occasions for Los Blancos, becoming the club’s all-time top scorer.

The memorable bicycle kick Sanchez scored for Madrid

Sanchez has scored several bicycle kicks throughout his career, but it’s safe to say the one he’ll never forget took place 35 years ago. On April 10, 1988, the Mexican star made the Santiago Bernabeu go wild with a beautiful goal against Logroñes.

“April 10, 1988 was a historic day for me because I was able to fulfill one of my childhood dreams: to score a goal with a bicycle kick in a wonderful stadium called Santiago Bernabeu with the jersey of the best team of all time, which is Real Madrid,” Sanchez said, via ESPN. “And that day I was able to finish my favorite shot, which I did in honor of my father, who liked to do that kind of shots. In addition, against Logroñés, I was able to fulfill the fact that I felt fulfilled and completely happy.”

On Matchday 25 of the 2021-22 LaLiga, Auba bagged a hat-trick to help his side claim a 4-1 victory at Estadio Mestalla, a stadium that sits well for the striker as he previously scored there with the Gunners as well.

Aubameyang celebrated his goals with the iconic front flip that we’ve seen many times when he played in the Premier League and the Bundesliga. However, it surprised many people that he repeated that celebration at Barca given that Hugo Sanchez, a legend of bitter rivals Real Madrid, used to celebrate like that too.

Here’s why Aubameyang does the flip celebration like Hugo Sanchez

Aubameyang explained many years ago how Hugo Sanchez inspired him to do this kind of celebration. “As a childI saw Hugo Sanchez on television celebrating goals like that.I thought it was incredible and I wanted to do it,” Aubameyang said in 2015, per the Bundesliga official website.

A year later, the forward told L’Equipe he became an admirer of the Mexican legend because of his grandfather, who watched Real Madrid’s games when Sanchez played at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Aubameyang and the infamous promise that he would play for Real Madrid

Aubameyang also said he once promised his grandfather he would play for Real Madrid at some point. Many believed that statement suggested Auba and his family supported Los Blancos, but he cleared the air on this matterwhen he joined Barcelona.“My family is from Ávila [city in Spain] and my grandfather was a huge fan of Atlético Madrid, that’s why I said that one day I would play for Real [Madrid].”

Now more and more Mexican players are making the jump, some have been massive flops, others have had moderate to great success. The best of the best play in Europe that is why it is important to test oneself in those competitions.

Here is a list of the best Mexican players to play in Europe, past and present, from the legendary Hugo Sánchez to the stars of today like Hirving Lozano. Here are the best players from Mexico to play in Europe.

Luis García

Luis García was a rarity during the 90’s, a Mexican player in Europe and with Atlético Madrid. The Mexican World Cup veteran would play in Spain for 4 years, but his best stint was with Atlético Madrid playing 2 seasons and scoring 28 goals in 58 games.

Néstor Araujo

The defender moved to Celta de Vigo in 2018 and has played over 100 games for the club and has been a rock at the back. Araujo is as cool as they get protecting the backline and has carved out a place as one of the nation’s all-time best exports.

Carlos Vela

Carlos Vela gets an incomplete grade in Europe, his time at Arsenal had him going on loan to various teams until finding his groove at Real Sociedad. At Sociedad, Vela played 7 seasons scoring over 50 goals in over 180 games for the club. Vela would leave Europe for a big money move to MLS.

Hector Moreno

Hector Moreno held firm in Europe, the defender had pit stops in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, and Turkey. Moreno’s best work came manding the backline for Espanyol from 2011-2015.

Francisco Rodriguez

A tough defender who had a good run at PSV and VfB Stuttgart, Francisco Rodriguez played in Europe a total of 5 seasons. Playing well for the most part.

Gerardo Torrado

The tough defensive midfielder played a lot of his career in Europe with stops at Tenerife, Poli Ejido, Sevilla, and Racing Santander. Gerardo Torrado was as tough as they came and had a reputation for going in hard.

Guillermo Ochoa

Guillermo Ochoa’s best stuff was while he played in France for Ajaccio, the netminder also had a good stint at Standard Liège, before returning to Mexico to play for Club America.

Hector Herrera

The midfielder has played very well at FC Porto and has been a helping hand at Atlético Madrid. Hector Herrera can brag that he has won silverware as well winning 4 titles in his European journey.

Jesús Corona

The talented winger is manding the midfield at FC Porto after coming up in the Netherlands with Twente. Jesús Corona has played over 190 games for Porto and has won 5 titles at the club.

Raul Jimenez

Current El Tri forward Raul Jimenez is the best Mexican player to ever have played in the Premier League. He gets regular 90-minute games and finds the back of the next at Wolverhampton Wanderers consistently.

Hirving Lozano

The Napoli forward is among the best Mexican soccer players of all-time, and one of the best to ever make the move to Europe. Hirving Lozano has played very well at Napoli after coming to light at PSV. He won 1 title with each club so far.

Javier Hernández

While never truly exploding and becoming world class, Javier Hernández did have a great spell in Europe, he was a go-to bench man at Manchester United, a talented goal scorer at Bayer Leverkusen and West Ham United. His stint at Sevilla is forgettable, but Chicharito did win 5 titles and can boast saying he played at Manchester United and Real Madrid.

Andrés Guardado

A great utility player, Andrés Guardado always found a home in Europe and has had stops at Deportivo La Coruña, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, PSV, and now Real Betis. Spain is where he has shined the most playing in over 250 games and winning 5 titles in his European career.

Rafael Marquez

Rafael Marquez played in one of the most dominant soccer teams of all-time at Barcelona, and while at Barca he was humble and hard working. Before his move to Barcelona, Marquez won two titles with Monaco and with the Catalan giants would win 12 titles, including two Champions Leagues. Marquez played 242 games at Barca. Marquez would later have a huge attitude problem in MLS and went to play in Mexico and had a uneventful stint in Serie A.

Hugo Sánchez

El Hugo or El Gran Hugo Sánchez, the greatest Mexican soccer player of all-time and greatest export of all-time. Hugo Sánchez was a goal machine at Real Madrid, playing seven seasons and scoring 208 goals in 243 games. Hugo Sánchez began his European career with Atlético Madrid, after Real Madrid he played for Rayo Vallecano and FC Linz in Austria. Sánchez was the Spanish leading goal scorer a record 5 times and won 12 titles in his European career.

A total of 62 teams have competed since La Liga’s inception. In addition to Real Madrid winning the title a record 34 times and Barcelona on the second with 26 league titles, nine other teams have been crowned champions.

The then-Athletic Bilbao player Telmo Zarra held the all-time highest goalscorerrecordin the tournament, up until 2014. Between 1945 and 1953, he was the Spanish league’s highest scorer for sixseasons.

21. Julio Salinas – 152 goals

Julio Salinas is a well-known name in La Liga, as he spent most of his career in Spain. He started his career in Athletic Bilbao, having gone through their youth academy. In 1981, he was added to the first team.

The Bilbao-born forward managed 152 total goals in 417 appearances in La Liga. 60 of them he scored in the Barcelona jersey, 31 for Atletico Madrid, 13 for Athletic Club, 24 for Sporting Gijon, and 12 for Deportivo Alaves and Deportivo La Coruna.

20. Luis Suarez – 156goals

Luis Suarez is tied with Julio Salinas for the 20th spot with 156goals scored. Suarez has played in two clubs in La Liga: Barcelona (2014-2020), and Atletico Madrid (2020-). He is the second active player in the top 20 list, with 203games in Spain so far.

The Uruguayan striker netted 147 times in 191 league games while wearing the Blaugrana jersey. In addition, he has fnine strikes in 13 matches for Atletico in the Spanish league so far.

19. Ferenc Puskas – 156 goals

Puskas is one of the several players on this list to have featured for only one La Liga club in their career. For Real Madrid, he made 180 total La Liga appearances in the period of eight years, from 1958 to 1966.

The Hungarian managed to convert 156 successful shots in La Liga. He died on November 17, 2006, aged 79.

18. Aritz Aduriz – 158 goals

Aduriz spent his entire career playing for Spanish top-tier and lower-tier clubs. He began his professional career at Aurrera in 1999. A year later, he joined Atletic Bilbao reserves, before being deployed in the first team in 2004.

Over the course of his career, he played for other Spanish clubs, but opted to return to Bilbao in 2012, and retire there in 2020. The 39-year-old managed to score 118 goals for Athletic, in addition to 23 for Mallorca, and 17 for Valencia in La Liga.

17. Luis Aragones – 160 goals

Aragones started his professional career at Getafe in 1957, but it only took one season for him to be noticed by Real Madrid. Unfortunately, he never got to debut for the first team of the Whites.

He netted a total of 160 total goals in La Liga for three different clubs. The Spanish midfielder scored 3 gaols for Oviedo, 33 for Real Betis, and 123 for Atletico Madrid. He died on February 1, 2014, aged 75.

16. Samuel Eto’o – 162 goals

Samuel Eto’o had a very colorful career, playing for 13 different clubs worldwide. With only three of them, he made his debut in La Liga. An interesting fact that people often find surprising is that he is a product of Real Madrid’s youth academy.

The ex-Cameroon international made three league appearances for Los Blancos but failed to register any goal. Thus, out of the 162 goals in Spain, Eto’o scored 108 for Barcelona, and 54 for Mallorca. He retired in 2019, atQatar SC.

15. Karim Benzema – 177goals

Karim Benzema is the second active player in the top 20 list. He joined Real Madrid in 2009, and he’s currently going into his 11th season at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Frenchman didn’t always have it easy at Madrid, but he exploded after Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure for Juventus in summer 2018. Benzema has played in 364La Liga games so far, managing to score 177 times.

14. Guillermo Gorostiza – 178 goals

Guillermo Gorostiza played for three Spanish clubs in total, but two of them were La Liga clubs. The Spanish forward started his career at Arenas Getxo in the far 1927.

He has scored 178 goals total La Liga goals split between two clubs: 72 for Valencia (from 1940 to 1945), and 35 for Athletic Bilbao (from 1929 to 1940). He died on August 23, 1966, aged 57.

13. Juan Arza – 182 goals

Arza is also one of the many players who spent all their playing career in Spain. However, out of the four clubs he played, at the time, only Sevilla were La Liga members.

For Sevilla, he made 349 league appearances from the period of1949 to 1959, scoring 182 goals in total. Arza died on July 17, 2011, aged 88.

12. David Villa – 185 goals

David Villa is a well-known La Liga and a worldwide legend. He began his pro career at Sporting Gijon B in 2000, before being included in the first team the next season. He featured in four top-division clubs.

For Valencia, he scored 107 league goals, in addition to 33 at Barcelona, 32 at Real Zaragoza, and 13 at Atletico Madrid. He retired in 2020, after spending the 2019-20 season at Vissel Kobe.

11. Santillana – 186 goals

Santillana spent his whole career in Spain, playing for two clubs in total, with one of them in La Liga. The former Spanish striker started his soccer adventure at Racing Santander in 1970, but it only took a season for Real Madrid to snatch him.

From 1971 to 1988, Santillana made 461 league appearances and scored 186 goals for Los Blancos. In 1988, he called it quits after helping the team gather three titles in a row in his final three seasons.

10. Edmundo Suarez – 195 goals

Edmundo Suarez began his career in Athletic Bilbao in 1935 but was soon shipped off after failing to leave a mark at the club in just one season.

From 1939 to 1950, he featured for Valencia, making 210 La Liga appearances and scoring 186 goals. In his final season, he played for Alcoyano, where he netted nine times in 21 league games. He died on December 14, 1978, aged 62.

9. Pahiño – 210 goals

Pahiño started his professional career at Celta in 1943. He spent five seasons there and joined Real Madrid in 1948. He played for four total clubs but made at least one La Liga appearance for three of them.

The Vigo-born former midfielder had a terrific record of 111 goals for Real Madrid in 124 games, in addition to 57 strikes at Celta, and 46 at Deportivo La Coruna. He died on June 12, 2012, aged 89.

8. Quini – 219 goals

Quini started his career in Spain at Ensidesa in 1967, before moving to Sporting Gijon just a year later. He played for four Spanish teams, in La Liga and lower leagues.

In addition, he featured for Barcelona, where he made 100 appearances. That way, he reached a total of 448 La Liga games, where he scored 219 goals.

7. Cesar Rodriguez – 223 goals

Cesar Rodriguez began his career at Barcelona in 1939, and he spent 16 years of his playing career at the Catalan club. The Barcelona-born forward played for a total of six Spanish clubs, four of which were competing in La Liga.

Rodriguez netted 190 goals in 287 games for Barca, 5 for Elche, 23 for Granada, and 3 for Cultural Leonesa. He died on March 1, 1995, aged 74.

6. Alfredo Di Stefano – 227 goals

Alfredo Di Stefano began his soccer path at River Plate in Argentina in 1945. After he managed to make his name in his homeland and Colombia for Milionarios, it was announced that he would be joining La Liga side Real Madrid in 1953.

During his 11-year stay in Madrid, from 1953 to 1964, Di Stefano reached 282 league matches, scoring 216 goals in total. He died on July 7, 2014, aged 88.

5. Raul – 229 goals

The famous Real Madrid legend Raul makes his way into the top 5 La Liga all-time top goalscorers. Despite featuring for both Madrid youth clubs, it was Real who introduced to first-team soccer in 1994.

Raul spent 16 years at the Santiago Bernabeu, filled with all sorts of collective and individual accolades and trophies. He made 550 total league appearances for the Whites and scored on 229 occasions.

4. Hugo Sanchez – 234 goals

Hugo Sanchez made his name in Mexico while featuring for UNAM (Pumas), from 1976 to 1981. That summer, he was shipped off to Atletico Madrid, where he stayed for four years. In addition, in 1985, Sanchez moved to their arch city rivals, Real Madrid.

He scored 164 goals in 2017 La Liga games for the Whites, in addition to 54 at Atletico Madrid, and 16 for Rayo Vallecano. The Mexican forward announced his retirement in 1997, after spending the season at Atletico Celaya.

3. Telmo Zarra – 251 goals

Zarra started his career at Erandio in 1939, but shortly after, Atletic Bilbao noticed him and signed him the next season. He has also played for another two Spanish clubs, but only Bilbao featured in La Liga.

With the Basque side, he netted 251 La Liga goal in 277 matches over the course of 15 years, from 1940 to 1955. He died on February 23, 2006, aged 85.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo – 311 goals

Cristiano Ronaldo is a youth product of Sporting Lisbon in Portugal. He made his name after leaving his homeland to play for Manchester United. Having won the Ballon d’Or the year before, Real Madrid lured him in 2009.

From 2009 to 2018, CR7 made 292 La Liga appearances for the Santiago Bernabeu side, marking 311 total goals. The 35-year-old forward is currently featuring for Juventus in Serie A.

1. Lionel Messi – 455goals

Messi has spent his entire career at Barcelona, after coming through the Blaugrana’s and Newell’s Old Boys’s youth ranks. In 2004, he was transferred to the first team where he made his competitive debut at the age of just 17.

The Argentine has so far featured in 502 La Liga games for Barca and scored 455goals. The 33-year-old forward is going into his 16th season at the Camp Nou, and it’s safe to say that he’ll only keep improving his already-unreachable record.