LONDON: Lionel Messi’s four-goal salvo against Espanyol for Barcelona at the weekend fired him decisively clear of  Cristiano Ronaldo in the battle for the ESM Golden Boot writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

With one round of matches left in La Liga the Argentinian is now five goals clear of the Real Madrid superstar.

Messi also has the Spanish cup final, against Bilbao, in which to see if can extend his record-breaking achievements to in all competitions. So far he has 72 goals which far outstrips Gerd Muller’s old mark of 67.

Robin Van Persie is close to securing third place in the rankings after reaching 30 with his two goals against Norwich on Saturday crowning a remarkable personal week in which he received his Footballer of the Year award in England from the Football Writers’ Association.

The full ranking

National status based on UEFA coefficient ratio

1. Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 50 x 2 = 100

4. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke 04) 29 x 2 = 58
5. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) 28 x 2 = 56
6. Mario Gomez (Bayern München) 26 x 2 = 52
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 26 x 2 = 52
8. Bas Dost (sc Heerenveen) 32 x 1,5 = 48
Burak Yilmaz (Trabzonspor) 32 x 1,5 = 48
10. Edinson Cavani (SSC Napoli) 23 x 2 = 46
Aleksandrs Cekulajevs (JK Trans Narva) 46 x 1 = 46
Radamel Falcao (Atlético Madrid) 23 x 2 = 46
Diego Milito (Internazionale) 23 x 2 = 46
14. Sergio ‘Kun’ Agüero (Manchester City) 22 x 2 = 44
Papiss Demba Cissé (SC Freiburg/Newcastle United) 22 x 2 = 44
Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) 22 x 2 = 44
Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund) 22 x 2 = 44
Antonio Di Natale (Udinese Calcio) 22 x 2 = 44
19. Seydou Doumbia (CSKA Moscow) 28 x 1,5 = 42
Olivier Giroud (SC Montpellier) 21 x 2 = 42
21. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 20 x 2 = 40
22. Rodrigo Palacio (Genoa CFC) 19 x 2 = 38
23. Luuk de Jong (FC Twente) 25 x 1,5 = 37,5
David Lafata (FK Jablonec) 25 x 1,5 = 37,5
Sanharib Malki (Roda JC Kerkrade) 25 x 1,5 = 37,5
26. Nikica Jelavic (Glasgow Rangers/Everton) 14 x 1,5 + 8 x 2 = 37
27. ‘Nenê’ Anderson Luiz de Carvalho (Paris Saint-Germain) 18 x 2 = 36
Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen) 18 x 2 = 36
Lukas Podolski (1.FC Köln) 18 x 2 = 36
Marco Reus (Borussia Mönchengladbach) 18 x 2 = 36
31. Alexander Frei (FC Basel) 23 x 1,5 = 34,5
Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Zenit St.Petersburg) 23 x 1,5 = 34,5
33. Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC) 17 x 2 = 34
Martin Harnik (VfB Stuttgart) 17 x 2 = 34
Eden Hazard (OSC Lille) 17 x 2 = 34
Fernando Llorente (Athletic de Bilbao) 17 x 2 = 34
Roberto Soldado (Valencia CF) 17 x 2 = 34
38. Jérémy Perbet (RAEC Mons) 22 x 1,5 = 33
Artjoms Rudnevs (KSS Lech Poznán) 22 x 1,5 = 33
40. Emmanuel Adebayor (Tottenham Hotspur) 16 x 2 = 32
Demba Ba (Newcastle United) 16 x 2 = 32
Gérman Gustavo Denis (Atalanta Bergamo) 16 x 2 = 32
Stefan Kießling (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) 16 x 2 = 32
Fabrizio Miccoli (US Palermo) 16 x 2 = 32
Aiyegbeni Yakubu (Blackburn Rovers) 16 x 2 = 32
46. Dries Mertens (PSV Eindhoven) 21 x 1,5 = 30,5
47. Sebastian Giovinco (FC Parma) 15 x 2 = 30
John Guidetti (Feyenoord) 20 x 1,5 = 30
Arouna Koné (UD Levante) 15 x 2 = 30
Lisandro López (Olympique Lyonnais) 15 x 2 = 30
Miguel Pérez Cuesta ‘Michu’ (Rayo Vallecano) 15 x 2 = 30
‘Raúl’ González Blanco (Schalke 04) 15 x 2 = 30

** The Golden Shoe is administered, computed and formulated by the European Sports Media group whose members comprise: A Bola (Portugal), ElfVoetbal (Netherlands), Fanatik (Turkey), Foot Magazine (Belgium), Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany), Guerin Sportivo (Italy), Kicker (Germany), Marca (Spain), Sport Express (Russia), Telegraaf/Telesport (Netherlands), Tipsbladet (Denmark), World Soccer (England). Affiliated members: Kick Off (South Africa), Titan Sport (China), Netease (China), SportalKorea (South-Korea).

 

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