KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: Cristiano Ronaldo has launched a late pursuit of Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski in the race to the ESM European Golden Shoe.

The 31-year-old Pole ended the campaign with a total of 34 goals and Lazio’s Ciro Immobile, with 29 goals and seven matches remaining, is now not the only man with a realistic prospect of catching up.

Next best is the fast-approaching Ronaldo who scored twice in the weekend’s 2-2 draw with Atalanta to take his tally to 28.

The Golden Shoe is based on a ranking computed according to UEFA’s rankings last July.  Thus marksmen from among the top five nations benefit from a multiple of 2.0, the next batch including Austria (places six to 22 ) a factor of 1.5 and the remainder 1.0.

The European Sports Media group has decided to resume the ranking while acknowledging that some leagues have already finished. As in previous years the Golden Shoe does not consider goals in play-off competitions.

Last season’s winner was Lionel Messi for a record-extending sixth time.

Golden Shoe standings

(Ranking multiplication based on UEFA coefficient status)

1. Robert Lewandowski (FC Bayern München) 34 x 2 = 68
2. Ciro Immobile (SS Lazio Roma) 29 x 2 = 58
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) 28 x 2 = 56
Timo Werner (RasenBallsport Leipzig) 28 x 2 = 56
5. Erling Braut Haaland (Red Bull Salzburg/Borussia Dortmund) 16 x 1,5 + 13 x 2 = 50
6. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) 23 x 2 = 46
7. Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 22 x 2 = 44
8. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) 20 x 2 = 40
Romelu Lukaku (FC Internazionale Milano) 20 x 2 = 40
10. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 19 x 2 = 38
Danny Ings (Southampton FC) 19 x 2 = 38
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool FC) 19 x 2 = 38
13. Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) 18 x 2 = 36
Jean-Pierre Nsame (BSC Young Boys) 24 x 1,5 = 36
Wissam Ben Yedder (AS Monaco) 18 x 2 = 36
16. ‘João Pedro’ Galvão (Cagliari Calcio) 17 x 2 = 34
Luis Muriel Fruto (Atalanta Bergamo) 17 x 2 = 34
Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund) 17 x 2 = 34
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) 17 x 2 = 34
20. Papiss Demba Cissé (Alanyaspor) 22 x 1,5 = 33
Odsonne Édouard (Celtic FC) 22 x 1,5 = 33
Shon Weissman (Wolfsberger AC) 22 x 1,5 = 33
23. Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) 16 x 2 = 32
Francesco Caputo (US Sassuolo Calcio) 16 x 2 = 32
Moussa Dembélé (Olympique Lyonnais) 16 x 2 = 32
‘Gerard’ Moreno Balagueró (Villarreal CF) 16 x 2 = 32
Raúl Alonso Jiménez (Wolverhampton Wanderers) 16 x 2 = 32
Sadio Mané (Liverpool FC) 16 x 2 = 32
Anthony Martial (Manchester United) 16 x 2 = 32
Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) 16 x 2 = 32
Wout Weghorst (VfL Wolfsburg) 16 x 2 = 32
32. Alexander Sørloth (Trabzonspor AŞ) 21 x 1,5 = 31,5
33. Erik Sorga (Flora Tallinn) 31 x 1 = 31
34. Andrea Belotti (Torino FC) 15 x 2 = 30
‘Raúl García‘ Escudero (Athletic Club de Bilbao) 15 x 2 = 30
Rouwen Hennings (Fortuna Düsseldorf) 15 x 2 = 30
Josip Iličić (Atalanta Bergamo) 15 x 2 = 30
Luis Suárez (FC Barcelona) 15 x 2 = 30
Ivan Tričkovski (AEK Larnaca) 20 x 1,5 = 30
Duván Zapata (Atalanta Bergamo) 15 x 2 = 30
41. Mirko Maric (NK Osijek) 19 x 1,5 = 28,5
Ilia Shkurin (FC Zvezda-BGU Minsk) 19 x 1,5 = 28,5
43. Tammy Abraham (Chelsea FC) 14 x 2 = 28
Edin Dzeko (AS Roma) 14 x 2 = 28
Lucas Ocampos (Sevilla FC) 14 x 2 = 28
46. Jonathan David (KAA Gent) 18 x 1,5 = 27
Dieumerci Mbokani (Royal Antwerp FC) 18 x 1,5 = 27
Aluísio ‘Júnior Moraes’ (FC Shakhtar Donetsk) 18 x 1,5 = 27
‘Carlos Vinícius’ Alves Morais (SL Benfica) 18 x 1,5 = 27
50. Iago Aspas Juncal (RC Celta de Vigo) 13 x 2 = 26
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton FC) 13 x 2 = 26
Jhon Córdoba (1.FC Köln) 13 x 2 = 26
Bruno Miguel Borges Fernandes (Sporting CP/Manchester United) 8 x 1,5 + 7 x 2 = 26
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) 13 x 2 = 26
Lautaro Martínez (FC Internazionale Milano) 13 x 2 = 26
‘Neymar’ da Silva Santos Júnior (Paris Saint-Germain) 13 x 2 = 26
Florian Niederlechner (FC Augsburg) 13 x 2 = 26
Klaemint Olsen (NSÍ Runavik) 26 x 1 = 26
Victor Osimhen (Lille OSC) 13 x 2 = 26
Robin Quaison (1. FSV Mainz 05) 13 x 2 = 26
61. Youssef El Arabi (Olympiakos Piraeus FC) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
Mijo Caktas (HNK Hajduk Split) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
Patson Daka (Red Bull Salzburg) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
João Paulo Dias Fernandes ‘Paulinho‘ (SC Braga) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
Luís Miguel Afonso Fernandes ‘Pizzi’ (SL Benfica) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
Kamil Wilczek (Bröndby IF) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
67. Sebastian Andersson (1. FC Union Berlin) 12 x 2 = 24
Domenico Berardi (US Sassuolo Calcio) 12 x 2 = 24
Ante Budimir (RCD Mallorca) 12 x 2 = 24
Habib Diallo (FC Metz) 12 x 2 = 24
Artem Dzyuba (FK Zenit Sint-Petersburg) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Serge Gnabry (FC Bayern München) 12 x 2 = 24
Kai Havertz (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) 12 x 2 = 24
Mauro Icardi (Paris Saint-Germain) 12 x 2 = 24
Adis Jahovic (Yeni Malatyaspor/Antalyaspor) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Gabriel Fernando de Jesus (Manchester City) 12 x 2 = 24
Andrej Kramaric (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim) 12 x 2 = 24
Nenad Lukic (FK TSC Backa Topola) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Álvaro Morata (Club Atlético de Madrid) 12 x 2 = 24
Andrea Petagna (SPAL) 12 x 2 = 24
Nikola Petkovic (FK Javor Ivanjica) 16 x 1,5 = 24
‘Richarlison’ de Andrade (Everton FC) 12 x 2 = 24
Vladimir Siladi (FK TSC Backa Topola) 16 x 1,5 = 24
André Miguel Valente Silva (Eintracht Frankfurt) 12 x 2 = 24
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** 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), Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy), GoalNews/Sentragoal (Greece), Guerin Sportivo (Italy), Kicker (Germany), Marca (Spain), Nemzeti Sport (Hungary), SoFoot (France), 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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