KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTING —- Cristiano Ronaldo, four times a winner of the ESM European Golden Shoe, is stepping up his pursuit of long-time leader Robert Lewandowski.

Ronaldo, 36 earlier this month, struck twice in Juventus’ 3-0 win over Crotone in Serie A on Monday which lifted the Italian champions within eight points of leaders Internazionale with a game in hand. That took his total to 18 goals, level with Eintracht Frankfurt’s Andre Silva.

Ronaldo won the Golden Shoe in 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2015.

Cristiano Ronaldo . . . unstoppable form at 36

Formal second place in the rankings is still held by Kasper Junker of Norway’s Bodo/Glimt. Lewandowski leads on points though Junker has scored more goals – 27 to the Pole’s 26.

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

Scandinavian leagues which traditionally play to a calendar-year schedule always provide the initial leaders before being overtaken in due course by the superstars of western Europe.

Last season’s winner was Lazio’s Ciro Immobile.

Golden Shoe standings

(Ranking multiplication based on UEFA coefficient status)

1. Robert Lewandowski (FC Bayern München) 26 x 2 = 52
2. Kasper Junker (FK Bodø/Glimt) 27 x 1,5 = 40,5
3. Amahl Pellegrino (Kristiansund BK) 25 x 1,5 = 37,5
4. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) 18 x 2 = 36
— André Miguel Silva (Eintracht Frankfurt) 18 x 2 = 36
6. Paul Ebere Onuachu (KRC Genk) 23 x 1,5 = 34,5
7. Erling Braut Haaland (Borussia Dortmund) 17 x 2 = 34
Romelu Lukaku (Internazionale Milano) 17 x 2 = 34
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool FC) 17 x 2 = 34
10. Giorgos Giakoumakis (VVV-Venlo) 22 x 1,5 = 33
11. Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) 16 x 2 = 32
Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 16 x 2 = 32
Luis Alberto Suárez (Atlético Madrid) 16 x 2 = 32
14. Bruno Miguel Borges Fernandes (Manchester United) 15 x 2 = 30
15. Thomas Henry (Oud-Heverlee Leuven) 19 x 1,5 = 28,5
Philip Zinckernagel (FK Bodø/Glimt) 19 x 1,5 = 28,5
17. Memphis Depay (Olympique Lyonnais) 14 x 2 = 28
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) 14 x 2 = 28
Ciro Immobile (SS Lazio Roma) 14 x 2 = 28
Luis Muriel Fruto (Atalanta Bergamo) 14 x 2 = 28
Wout Weghorst (VfL Wolfsburg) 14 x 2 = 28
22. Aaron Boupendza (Hatayspor Kulübü) 18 x 1,5 = 27
Christoffer Nyman (IFK Norrköping) 18 x 1,5 = 27
24. Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton FC) 13 x 2 = 26
Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla FC) 13 x 2 = 26
‘Gerard’ Moreno Balagueró (Villarreal CF) 13 x 2 = 26
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) 13 x 2 = 26
Andrej Kramaric (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim) 13 x 2 = 26
Lautaro Martínez (Internazionale Milano) 13 x 2 = 26
Heung-Min Son (Tottenham Hotspur) 13 x 2 = 26
Wissam Ben Yedder (AS Monaco) 13 x 2 = 26
32. Youssef El-Arabi (Olympiakos Piraeus) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
33. Patrick Bamford (Leeds United) 12 x 2 = 24
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 12 x 2 = 24
Veton Berisha (Viking FK Stavanger) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Gianni Bruno (SV Zulte Waregem) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Patson Daka (Red Bull Salzburg) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Boulaye Dia (Stade de Reims) 12 x 2 = 24
Alexander Isak (Real Sociedad de Fútbol) 12 x 2 = 24
Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) 12 x 2 = 24
Kevin Volland (AS Monaco) 12 x 2 = 24
42. Rauno Sappinen (FC Flora Tallinn) 23 x 1 = 23
43. Mushaga Bakenga (Odds BK) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Odsonne Édouard (Celtic FC) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Astrit Seljmani (Varbergs BoIS) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
46. Andrea Belotti (Torino FC) 11 x 2 = 22
‘João Pedro’ Galvão (Cagliari Calcio) 11 x 2 = 22
Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City) 11 x 2 = 22
José Luis Morales (Levante DU) 11 x 2 = 22
Silas Wamangituka (VfB Stuttgart) 11 x 2 = 22
51. Jens Petter Hauge (FK Bodø/Glimt) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Sékou Koïta (Red Bull Salzburg) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Kristijan Lovrić (HNK Gorica) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Milan Makarić (FK Radnik Surdulica) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Donyell Malen (PSV Eindhoven) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Ramón Nazareno Miérez (NK Osijek) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Moses Ogbu (Mjällby AIF) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Pedro António Pereira Gonçalves ‘Pote’ (Sporting CP) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Yuma Suzuki (Sint-Truiden VV) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Isaac Kiese Thelin (Malmö FF) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Roman Yaremchuk (KAA Gent) 14 x 1,5 = 21
62. Ludovic Ajorque (Racing Strasbourg Alsace) 10 x 2 = 20
Francesco Caputo (US Sassuolo Calcio) 10 x 2 = 20
Lorenzo Insigne (SSC Napoli Calcio) 10 x 2 = 20
Sasa Kalajdzic (VfB Stuttgart) 10 x 2 = 20
Bioty Moise Kean (Paris Saint-Germain) 10 x 2 = 20
Thomas Müller (FC Bayern München) 10 x 2 = 20
Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad de Fútbol) 10 x 2 = 20
Lars Stindl (Borussia Mönchengladbach) 10 x 2 = 20
Karl Toko Ekambi (Olympique Lyonnais) 10 x 2 = 20
Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa FC) 10 x 2 = 20
Callum Wilson (Newcastle United) 10 x 2 = 20

** 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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