MADRID: Leo Messi did not score at the weekend for Barcelona against Betis but Cristiano Ronaldo could not catch him at the top of the ESM Golden Boot and the Liga rankings.

Ronaldo scored one goal in Madrid’s title-sealing 4-1 win over Mallorca but he would have needed five goals to catch Messi and that is an achievement accomplished previously by only six other Real Madrid players going back around 70 years.

The last Madrid star to hit five in a league game was Fernando Morientes against Las Palmas in a 7-1 win in 2001-02. Before him the feat had been managed by Ferenc Puskas, Pepillo, Miguel Muñoz, Rafae Alsua and Manuel Alday back in 1942-43.

At least Ronaldo has scored more league goals in a season than any previous Madrid marksman – including the likes of Alfredo Di Stefano, Puskas and Hugo Sanchez – and his goal against Mallorca made him the only player in the history of La Liga to score at least once in a season against all the other clubs.

The last round of league matches affecting the 2011-12 Golden Shoe takes place next weekend. Behind Messi and Ronaldo, Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie is uncatchable in third place.

The full rankings

National status based on UEFA coefficient factor

1. Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 50 x 2 = 100
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 46 x 2 = 92
3. Robin van Persie (Arsenal) 30 x 2 = 60
4. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke 04) 29 x 2 = 58
5. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) 28 x 2 = 56
6. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 27 x 2 = 54
7. Mario Gomez (Bayern München) 26 x 2 = 52
8. Bas Dost (sc Heerenveen) 32 x 1,5 = 48
Radamel Falcao (Atlético Madrid) 24 x 2 = 48
Diego Milito (Internazionale) 24 x 2 = 48
Burak Yilmaz (Trabzonspor) 32 x 1,5 = 48
12. Sergio ‘Kun’ Agüero (Manchester City) 23 x 2 = 46
Edinson Cavani (SSC Napoli) 23 x 2 = 46
Aleksandrs Cekulajevs (JK Trans Narva) 46 x 1 = 46
Antonio Di Natale (Udinese Calcio) 23 x 2 = 46
16. 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
19. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 21 x 2 = 42
Seydou Doumbia (CSKA Moscow) 28 x 1,5 = 42
Olivier Giroud (SC Montpellier) 21 x 2 = 42
‘Nenê’ Anderson Luiz de Carvalho (Paris Saint-Germain) 21 x 2 = 42
23. Nikica Jelavic (Glasgow Rangers/Everton) 14 x 1,5 + 9 x 2 = 39
24. Rodrigo Palacio (Genoa CFC) 19 x 2 = 38
25. 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
‘Wésley’ Lopes (FC Vaslui) 25 x 1,5 = 37,5
29. Alexander Frei (FC Basel) 24 x 1,5 = 36
Gary Hooper (Celtic FC) 24 x 1,5 = 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
34. Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Zenit St.Petersburg) 23 x 1,5 = 34,5
35. Emmanuel Adebayor (Tottenham Hotspur) 17 x 2 = 34
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
Aiyegbeni Yakubu (Blackburn Rovers) 17 x 2 = 34
42. Jérémy Perbet (RAEC Mons) 22 x 1,5 = 33
Artjoms Rudnevs (KSS Lech Poznán) 22 x 1,5 = 33
44. Demba Ba (Newcastle United) 16 x 2 = 32
‘Rubén Castro’ Martín (Real Betis Sevilla) 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
49. Dries Mertens (PSV Eindhoven) 21 x 1,5 = 30,5
50. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (AS Saint-Etienne) 15 x 2 = 30
Óscar René Cardozo (Benfica SL) 20 x 1,5 = 30
Sebastian Giovinco (FC Parma) 15 x 2 = 30
John Guidetti (Feyenoord) 20 x 1,5 = 30
Grant Holt (Norwich City) 15 x 2 = 30
Arouna Koné (UD Levante) 15 x 2 = 30
Rodrigo José ‘Lima’ dos Santos (Sporting Braga) 20 x 1,5 = 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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