Carlos, Alves, Alba: The most prolific defender in each season since 1999/2000 | OneFootball

On Tuesday evening, Reece James continued his sparkling form in a Chelsea shirt during the team's 4-0 win over Juventus in the Champions League

The Englishman has been on fire for Thomas Tuchel's side of late and now has 10 goal contributions to his names across all competitions in 2021/22 so far.

James' magnificent goal against Juventus was his fifth of the season, adding to his five assists in the same timeframe - the latest of those coming in the 3-0 victory away at Leicester City last Saturday.

No defender in Europe's top five leagues has more contributions to their name and you start to wonder; what numbers will the Chelsea academy product finish with?

Well, he's got some way to go to match the highest totals accrued by defenders from a single season in the 21st century.

To highlight just that, we've used Transfermarkt to work out the defender with the most goal contributions in each completed campaign since 1999/2000.

Only players plying their trade at a team in one of Europe's top five leagues have been considered for selection.

2000/01 | Roberto Carlos, Real Madrid | 22

Games: 50

Goals: 9

Assists: 13

2001/02 | Roberto Carlos, Real Madrid | 16

Games: 52

Goals: 6

Assists: 10

2002/03 | Roberto Carlos, Real Madrid | 20

Games: 53

Goals: 6

Assists: 14

2003/04 | Roberto Carlos, Real Madrid | 20

Games: 49

Goals: 9

Assists: 11

2004/05 | John Arne Riise, Liverpool | 16

Games: 57

Goals: 8

Assists: 8

2005/06 | Roberto Carlos, Real Madrid | 12

Games: 45

Goals: 6

Assists: 6

2006/07 | Dani Alves, Sevilla | 12

Games: 51

Goals: 5

Assists: 7

2007/08 | Dani Alves, Sevilla | 22

Games: 47

Goals: 4

Assists: 18

2008/09 | Dani Alves, Barcelona | 19

Games: 54

Goals: 5

Assists: 14

2009/10 | Maicon, Inter Milan | 19

Games: 52

Goals: 7

Assists: 12

2010/11 | Dani Alves, Barcelona | 25

Games: 54

Goals: 4

Assists: 21

2011/12 | Dani Alves, Barcelona | 21

Games: 51

Goals: 3

Assists: 18

2012/13 | Philipp Lahm, Bayern Munich | 19

Games: 47

Goals: 0

Assists: 19

2013/14 | Ricardo Rodriguez, Wolfsburg | 17

Games: 38

Goals: 7

Assists: 10

2014/15 | Leighton Baines, Everton | 16

Games: 37

Goals: 3

Assists: 13

2015/16 | Matthias Ginter, Borussia Dortmund | 14

Games: 40

Goals: 4

Assists: 10

2016/17 | Marcelo, Real Madrid | 16

Games: 46

Goals: 3

Assists: 13

2017/18 | Aleksandar Kolarov, AS Roma | 17

Games: 47

Goals: 3

Assists: 14

2018/19 | Jordi Alba, Barcelona | 20

Games: 54

Goals: 3

Assists: 17

2019/20 | Achraf Hakimi, Borussia Dortmund | 19

Games: 45

Goals: 9

Assists: 10

2020/21 | Juan Cuadrado, Juventus | 21

Games: 40

Goals: 2

Assists: 19

A special shoutout to Lahm for making the cut despite failing to actually score a goal in 2012/13!

Both Carlos and Alves - two players who, along with Lahm, are in the conversation to be labelled the greatest full-back of all time - feature on five occasions, which is pretty darn remarkable.

Alves' haul of 25 goal contributions for Barcelona in 2010/11, the season they won La Liga and the Champions League, is the most by a defender in the 21st century.

Quiz: Can you name the footballer based on their Wikipedia page?

1 of 15

Who moved from Barcelona to Real Madrid in 2000?

Luis Enrique Luis Figo Javier Saviola Cristiano Ronaldo

Will James get anywhere near that enormous number at Chelsea this campaign? Right now, you certainly wouldn't bet against it.

If he maintains his current form, the 21-year-old may even set a new record...

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by Taboola

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Danny Ryan

Interested in: Arsenal, Barcelona, Boxing

Danny Ryan is a Senior Writer and Boxing Lead at GiveMeSport. He's had the pleasure of interviewing the likes of Tyson Fury, Gary Lineker, Amir Khan, Lennox Lewis, Joe Root, David Haye, Frank Warren, Kell Brook & Joseph Parker. He once got Eoin Morgan to commentate on THAT Super Over and is an above average FIFA player.