Top-scoring attacking trios since 2000 & where Bayern’s Kane, Diaz and Olise rank | OneFootball

Bayern Munich’s electrifying trio of Harry Kane, Luis Diaz and Michael Olise have reached 100 goals combined for the 2025-26 season, so who are the highest-scoring attacking trios of the 21st century?

Here’s a countdown of the tridents with the most goals over a single season over the past 25 years or so (based purely on their combined individual goal tallies, regardless of whether they were all on the pitch at the same time).

For any ties, the trio who scored that amount of goals in the fewest combined appearances ranks higher.

10. Messi Villa Pedro (98, 2010-11)

Spoiler alert, but you’re going to see Lionel Messi’s name a few times in this top 10.

The 2010-11 season was the first in which he passed the 50-goal landmark, scoring 53 times from 55 games as Barcelona won La Liga and the Champions League.

The main members of Messi’s supporting cast as he finished as their top scorer for the second season in a row were David Villa with 23 goals from 52 games and Pedro with 22 from 53.

9. Ronaldo Bale Benzema (98, 2015-16)

Spoiler alert again, but you’re going to see Cristiano Ronaldo’s name a few times here as well.

When you think of Ronaldo in an attacking trio, chances are it’s the ‘BBC’ lineup he was the focal point of at Real Madrid with Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema.

In 2015-16, as they kicked off their run of three Champions Leagues in a row, Madrid’s front three scored a combined 98 goals – 51 by Ronaldo, 28 by Benzema and 19 by Bale – from just 115 collective appearances.

8. Ronaldo Benzema Bale (100, 2014-15)

The best ever return by the ‘BBC’ was in the 2014-15 season, when they scored a century of goals between them from 146 combined appearances.

It was Ronaldo’s most prolific season ever, accounting for 61 of those 100 goals and earning him a fourth European Golden Shoe in a row.

Benzema added 22 goals and Bale added 17 (incidentally, so did James Rodriguez, but he was more of an attacking midfielder). However, Madrid didn’t manage to win La Liga, the Copa del Rey or the Champions League and thus Carlo Ancelotti was dismissed.

7. Kane Olise Diaz (100*, 2025-26)

With the Bundesliga season being shorter than La Liga, it’s quite an achievement for Bayern’s front three from this season to be mixing it with these nine Spanish-based tridents.

It has been the best scoring season of Kane’s career; a penalty against PSG gave him his 54th goal of the campaign.

Diaz and Olise also scored to get their 26th and 20th goals of the season respectively. As a whole, Bayern have produced one of the highest-scoring seasons in European history.

6. Messi Eto’o Henry (100, 2008-09)

The first attacking trio to reach triple figures between them in the 21st century among Europe’s top five leagues was Barcelona’s Messi, Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry in 2008-09, within just 123 combined appearances.

During Pep Guardiola’s first season in charge, Messi scored a then-career best 38 goals, Eto’o scored 36 – also the best return of his career at that point – and Henry scored 26.

Xavi and Bojan also chipped in with 10 goals each. On the whole, Barcelona reaped the rewards by winning the treble.

5. Messi Fabregas Sanchez (103, 2011-12)

Yes, Cesc Fabregas wasn’t exactly a forward, but Barcelona’s formation was very fluid in 2011-12 as Guardiola began to flex his tactical brain.

As such, Fabregas finished level with Alexis Sanchez as Barcelona’s second-top scorer with 15 goals that season.

But Messi was way out in front with a frankly phenomenal tally of 73 goals. That included 50 in La Liga, which earned him the Pichichi Trophy despite Real Madrid winning the league.

4. Messi Suarez Neymar (110, 2016-17)

The attacking trio Messi is most fondly remembered as being part of was, of course, his ‘MSN’ combination with Luis Suarez and Neymar.

They spent three seasons together for Barcelona, all of which feature in the top four spots remaining on this list.

The last one, before Neymar’s exit to PSG, included 110 goals between them. Messi scored 54, Suarez got 37 and Neymar added 20, but Barca finished second in La Liga and only reached the Champions League quarter-finals.

3. Ronaldo Benzema Higuain (118, 2011-12)

Ronaldo was previously part of an even more prolific attack than the ‘BBC’, when he and Benzema linked up with Gonzalo Higuain.

They were at their most effective in the 2011-12 season, during which Real Madrid set the record for the highest-scoring La Liga season.

Across all competitions, Ronaldo scored 59 goals, while strikers Benzema and Higuain got 31 and 26 respectively.

2. Messi Suarez Neymar (122, 2014-15)

The first fruits of the ‘MSN’ attack at Barcelona was the 122-goal return they achieved in 2014-15 while winning the treble.

Messi was the top scorer with 58, with Neymar adding a personal-best of his Barcelona career with 39 and Suarez scoring 25 in his debut season with the club.

Pedro was the only other Barcelona player to reach double figures that season. Strangely enough, they were outscored on the whole by Real Madrid in La Liga.

1. Messi Suarez Neymar (131, 2015-16)

The peak of the ‘MSN’ era was at its midpoint in 2015-16, when they bettered the previous season’s tally and scored an unmatched 131 goals between them.

This time, Suarez led the way with 59 goals, with Messi adding 41 and Neymar 31 as Barca retained their La Liga and Copa del Rey trophies.

Scarily, it could have been more, since their Champions League defence ended at the quarter-final stage, robbing their front three of two or three more games to enhance their tallies further.