Luka Modric endured a career first and career worst versus England – with many of his contemporaries reaching nadirs against Liverpool.
The 7-0 defeat to England was not only the biggest in Croatia’s history as a nation, but also Modric’s as a player across more than 900 senior appearances.
But every great is on the wrong side of a pummelling every now and then. These are the biggest career defeats suffered by every Ballon d’Or podiumist since Modric’s win in 2018.
Luka Modric – Croatia 0 England 7
While he has never lost a club game by more than four goals despite literally playing for Spurs, the international career of Modric does feature a couple of shellackings.
Spain dismantled Croatia in a Nations League tie in 2018, putting six past a Modric-captained mess, with five different players scoring and keeper Lovre Kalinic adding an own goal to the mix.
But “the first time I’ve felt ashamed after a match” came eight years later for a 41-year-old Modric, who lasted only 57 minutes of a remarkably harsh England lesson in Rijeka.
Croatia were already 5-0 down by the time Modric was mercifully removed from the irresistible orbit of Alex Scott.
Lionel Messi – Barcelona 2 Bayern Munich 8
It could be argued that the heaviest defeat of Messi’s career came when he lost all dignity and attempted to grass on Marc Cucurella to get him sent off in the most one-sided World Cup final in history.
But in pure literal terms, there can be few more humiliating results to endure than the thrashing doled out by Bayern Munich in the 2020 Champions League.
A one-off quarter-final played behind closed doors represented what might forever remain Barcelona’s lowest ebb – a game so crushing that Messi submitted a transfer request by burofax 11 days later.
In it, he is thought to have written that he would ‘8-2 play Barcelona ever again’ (subs, please check), adding: ‘You can win or lose in it, because it is very difficult, but you have to compete. At least compete for it and let us not fall apart in Rome, Liverpool and Lisbon. All that led me to think about that decision that I wanted to carry out.’
The Bayern humbling was the culmination of a series of carefully choreographed Champions League implosions, featuring Messi calling James Milner a “donkey”, which compelled the Argentinean to eventually leave.
Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United 0 Liverpool 5 and Barcelona 5 Real Madrid 0
Two months after his glorious, hilariously panic-induced Manchester United return, the red flags were there for Ronaldo. What was supposed to be the prodigal son’s comeback descended into an Old Trafford ransacking, and the Portuguese narrowly avoiding a red card for lashing out at Curtis Jones.
It does feel fitting that Ronaldo’s most chastening defeats came to his respective teams’ most bitter rivals. Eleven years before that Liverpool hammering, he was a passenger in another car crash of a performance at the Nou Camp as Barcelona ensured Jose Mourinho’s first Real Madrid defeat was a memorable one.
Antoine Griezmann – Barcelona 2 Bayern Munich 8
In his eternal quest to move between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid while winning as little as possible for either, Griezmann joined the former in summer 2019 as they embarked on their first trophyless season since 2007/08.
It was capped off by that Bayern battering, in which Griezmann was brought on at 4-1 down at half time. He and Barca would claim the Copa del Rey the following season, but it was Atletico who lifted La Liga.
Virgil van Dijk – Aston Villa 7 Liverpool 2
There have been a few five-goal losses in Van Dijk’s career: to PSV with Groningen, to Barcelona with Celtic and to Liverpool with Southampton. But none felt quite so absurdly calamitous as when the Premier League champions were given the runaround by Trezeguet and Ross Barkley.
Liverpool “lost the plot” on arguably the most ludicrous day of Barclays there has ever been; Spurs handed Manchester United their arses mere hours earlier.
And Van Dijk was front and centre – although not quite as catastrophically so as Adrian – as the Reds capitulated at Villa Park.
Robert Lewandowski – Spain 6 Poland 0
In their final warm-up friendly before the 2010 World Cup, Spain signalled their intent by demolishing Poland.
It was slightly misleading, given Spain’s entire knockout run at the tournament consisted solely of 1-0 victories. But it did give an insight into how Poland failed to make it, finishing fifth in their group as the filling in a Northern Ireland and San Marino sandwich.
Jorginho – Manchester City 6 Chelsea 0
Funny game. Does anyone else miss Maurizio Sarri?
Karim Benzema – Barcelona 5 Real Madrid 0
Having started his second Real Madrid season largely playing second fiddle to Gonzalo Higuain, the November 2010 Clasico was only Benzema’s second start of the domestic campaign to that point.
He was back on the bench for their next game.
Sadio Mane – Southampton 1 Liverpool 6
Divock Origi scored a hat-trick and St Mary’s was treated to 74 minutes of Joe Allen, but the story from one of the more lopsided League Cup quarter-finals in recent memory was the quality of Daniel Sturridge.
“Now I know what everybody was talking about with him,” said Jurgen Klopp after Sturridge’s two goals in a 6-1 win. “I’ve finally seen it live.”
But Sturridge was not alone in making an impression. Klopp ended up signing three players from the beaten team, including centre-half pair Van Dijk and Steven Caulker, as well as Mane after his first-minute opener.
Kevin de Bruyne – Valencia 7 Genk 0
Roberto Soldado scored a hat-trick in a Champions League whipping. He and De Bruyne have as many legitimate Premier League winner’s medals.
Erling Haaland – Arsenal 5 Manchester City 1 and Austria 5 Norway 1
Four months after acknowledging a Nations League disgrace against Austria “was far too bad on my part”, Haaland suffered the same fate in a Premier League surrender to Arsenal.
He did at least score at the Emirates, cancelling out Martin Odegaard’s goal. But Manchester City collapsed and were entirely humbled thereafter.
Kylian Mbappe – Lille 5 Paris Saint-Germain 1
“We played like amateurs,” lamented Mbappe after PSG’s planned title celebrations were delayed by an Arsenal-flavoured reverse in which future Gunners Gabriel and Nicolas Pepe both scored.
It was PSG’s heaviest league defeat since they were beaten 5-1 by Sedan in 2000 – shortly before Mbappe turned two.
Rodri – Barcelona 5 Villarreal 1
Knowing Rodri, he probably took it well.
Vinicius Junior – four 4-0 defeats with Real Madrid
Knowing the constant narrative surrounding Vinicius, nothing stupid or offensive was said or done in the aftermath of any of them.
Jude Bellingham – Borussia Dortmund 1 Stuttgart 5
A 17-year-old Bellingham was largely absolved of blame for a characteristic Dortmund crumbling, with a Dortmund title challenge falling away even earlier than usual.
Bellingham has, wonderfully, suffered bigger defeats at Real Madrid (two 4-0s) and with England (one 4-0) than he ever did at Birmingham.
Lamine Yamal – Atletico Madrid 4 Barcelona 0
The combination of a nascent career and wisely choosing to play for a generationally brilliant Spain team and a Barcelona side seemingly gearing up for a dominant era means Yamal has rarely tasted such chastening defeats.
But they do tend to catch everyone at some point. The forward was powerless as Atletico stormed into a 4-0 half-time lead in the first leg of the 2026 Copa del Rey semi-final, from which Barcelona never quite recovered.
Vitinha – Porto 1 Liverpool 5
As frustrating as it is not to be able to use the three 4-0 defeats Vitinha suffered at Wolves, when Nuno Espirito Santo preferred Leander Dendoncker to a player who would become one of the best midfielders in the world within half a decade, rules are rules.
There is still a Premier League vibe to Vitinha’s biggest career loss: his substitute cameo in a beating handed down by Liverpool.
