Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo behind Diego Godin for most minutes played

There's been a lot of football played over the past two years, and one player leads the way in minutes played by some considerable distance. This player has effectively played over six-and-a-half more games than any other.
He has led his team to La Liga glory, to the verge of ultimate European glory and has taken over the captaincy of his country.
But while he plays in Spain, he isn't one of the biggest stars of the world game at Barcelona or Real Madrid.
In first place is Atletico Madrid defender and new Uruguay captain Diego Godin. He has played 126 times since June 2013, and is the only player in the top 10 to have started all appearances.
Amazingly, in those 126 appearances, Godin has only been subbed off once -- in an international friendly against Slovenia in June 2014. In the other 125 games he has played the whole 90 minutes, or 120 when extra time has been required.

	Total Minutes	Apps	Starts	Sub
Diego Godin	11,345	126	126	0
Lionel Messi	10,750	127	119	8
Alexis Sanchez	10,392	137	117	20
Cristiano Ronaldo	10,144	119	117	2
Javier Mascherano	10,075	121	114	7
Edinson Cavani	9,988	124	112	12
Neymar	9,754	125	111	14
Dani Alves	9,439	108	106	2
Thiago Silva	9,422	108	105	3
Arturo Vidal	9,188	115	104	11

Godin's appearance record is: 68 La Liga, 19 Champions League, 8 Copa Del Rey, 4 Spanish Super Cup; 10 international friendlies, 6 World Cup qualifiers, 4 World Cup finals, 4 Confederations Cup, 3 Copa America.
Take it back two more years and Godin's minutes would be even more impressive, as Uruguay won the Copa America in 2011, before Atletico won the Europa League in 2012 and the Copa Del Rey in 2013. He has played a minimum of 41 club games every year over the past four years, with a high of 51 in 2013-14 when his club won La Liga and reached the Champions League final.
The list features six players from La Liga, two from Ligue 1 and one each from the Premier League and Serie A. The Bundesliga, which has four fewer fixtures than any of the other top European leagues, has no players.
The only player to ply his trade in the Premier League is Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez, who spent the first season at Barcelona before transferring to the Emirates in the summer of 2014.
Sanchez actually featured in more games than any other player, with 137 matches played. But as 20 of those appearances came from the bench he is only third on minutes on the pitch.
All but one player represents a South American country, with only fourth-placed Portugal and Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo bucking that trend.

Neymar and Lionel Messi both feature in the top 10.

Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi is second, and while he has made one more appearance than Godin, he spent 595 fewer minutes on the pitch. Chile and Arsenal's Sanchez is third, ahead of Ronaldo.
Perhaps Brazil fans should be worried about burnout for Neymar, as the Barcelona striker has played more football than any other Brazilian. At the age of 23 he is by some way the youngest player in the top 10 -- Sanchez at 26 is the next youngest. James Rodriguez, also 23, is just outside the top 10 in 14th place.
Dani Alves, the Brazil and Barcelona defender, is the oldest player to feature, in eighth, at the age of 32. Barcelona and Argentina's Javier Mascherano is 31.
Paris Saint-Germain have two players, with Uruguay's Edinson Cavani in sixth and Brazil's Thiago Silva in ninth.
The only player from Serie A is Juventus and Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal.