ANKARA

Defenders in football often play the game to avoid goals or parry attacks of opponents as scoring goals are not their primary duty but they sometimes help their teammates in the offense. Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos stands out a master of goal-scoring defenders.

On Sunday Ramos became the Spanish La Liga's all-time top goal scoring defender with 68 goals.

Ramos is the only active defense player among the big European leagues -- like the British Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A, and the French Ligue 1 -- to have the honor while inactive defenders are leading other divisions.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup winner, Ramos contributed to Real Madrid's 2-1 victory against Real Sociedad, scoring from penalty in the second half to set the record.

Ramos is a true Real Madrid veteran, playing for the Spanish powerhouse since 2005.

He is one of the most important defenders in the world as the 34-year-old won the UEFA Champions League titles in 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Real Madrid icon Ramos is also a four-time Spanish champion, claiming the titles in 2007, 2008, 2012 and 2017).

In addition to the World Cup victory, Ramos claimed the European championship twice in 2008 and 2012.

The previous highest goal scoring defender in La Liga was Ronald Koeman, a former Barcelona player.

The ex-Dutch defender scored 67 league goals while he was in Spain.

Koeman played for Barcelona from 1989 to 1995.

Chelsea's Terry nets 41 league goals

English Premier League's highest goal scoring defender was Chelsea's English defender John Terry.

The retired player, 39, scored 41 goals in 492 league matches in England.

The Chelsea alpha dog took the English Premier League crown with the London club for five times in 2005, 2006, 2010, 2015 and 2017.

He claimed the UEFA Champions League title in 2012 and Europa League title in 2013.

The long time Chelsea player joined Aston Villa in 2017 and ended his professional career in 2018.

Everton's Leighton Baines is currently the top scoring defender among active players in the Premier League.

The 35-year-old left back scored 32 goals in 417 league matches.

2 players share top place in Bundesliga

There are two retired defenders in the German top division Bundesliga -- Bernard Dietz and Manfred Kaltz who were the highest scoring defenders in this competition.

The German pair scored 76 goals each in the league as Dietz and Kaltz are still sharing the top spot in this category.

Dietz was sweeper at Duisburg and Schalke 04 and Kaltz played as a right back for Hamburg.

Dietz, 72, won the UEFA EURO 1980 with the German national team, his sole major triumph.

However 67-year-old Kaltz became the Bundesliga winner with Hamburg in 1979, 1982 and 1983.

Kaltz helped Hamburg win the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1983.

Like Dietz, Kaltz won the EURO 1980 with Germany.

Freiburg right back Jonathan Schmid scored 32 goals in 251 Bundesliga appearances. So the 30-year-old French national scored most goals in defenders' category among the active players in Germany.

Curti scores 64 goals in Italian league

An Argentine national who played in the highest Italian football division in 1950s, Jose Osvaldo Curti is still the top goal scoring defender of Serie A.

Curti scored 64 goals in 201 league matches in Italy to lead the list.

Argentine-born Curti was a former player of Sampdoria, Padova, Triestina, and Torino and he spent his whole career in Italy.

Curti was 85 when he died in 2010.

An active player in Italy, Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini scored 27 league goals in 391 Serie A appearances.

But the 35-year-old Italian defender is unlikely to break Curti's record.

Chiellini is a valuable player for Juventus, winning eight Serie A titles in a row since 2012.

Blanc leads French league

A French football legend, Laurent Blanc is still the highest goal scoring defender in the French top-tier league, Ligue 1.

Blanc netted 44 league goals in 181 matches.

The 54-year-old played for five French clubs, namely Montpellier, Nimes, Saint-Etienne, Auxerre, and Olympique de Marseille.

Blanc was part of the France squad. He won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA EURO 2000 titles. He also clinched the French league title with Auxerre in 1996.

One of the most important figures for the French football, Blanc retired from playing football in 2003.

After his retirement, Blanc managed Bordeaux and Paris Saint-Germain as well as the French national team.

As a head coach, Blanc won French league title four times, three of them were with Paris Saint-Germain in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Separately Blanc-led Bordeaux were the French champions in 2009.

Among the active players in France, pure Saint-Etienne product Loic Perrin scored 27 goals in 384 league games.

The 34-year-old French center back has been playing for Saint-Etienne since 2003.