KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: In normal circumstances Robert Lewandowski might already be assured of winning, for the first time, the ESM European Golden Shoe as leading marksman in league competition.

However, since his immediate pursuers are Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, the Pole’s lead is not necessarily as secure as on first appearance.

Lewandowski scored once in Bayern Munich’s 3-1 away win at Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga over the weekend but Ronaldo, fired by criticism after Juve’s Champions League exit, scored a hat-trick in little more than the first halfhour of the 3-1 Serie A defeat of Cagliari, while Messi struck twice in Barcelona’s 4-1 dismissal of Huesca in the Spanish LaLiga.

Robert Lewandowski . . . FIFA top player in 2020

Ronaldo has won the Golden Shoe four times and Messi on six occasions. Only twice since 2010 has anyone else interrupted their command – Barcelona’s Luis Suarez in 2016 and Lazio’s Ciro Immobile last season.

Early pacemaker Kasper Junker of Norway’s Bodo/Glimt has now slipped down to fourth place.

Junker scored 27 and was a long-time leader of the standings 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.

Golden Shoe standings

(Ranking multiplication based on UEFA coefficient status)

1. Robert Lewandowski (FC Bayern München) 32 x 2 = 64
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) 23 x 2 = 46
3. Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 21 x 2 = 42
4. Kasper Junker (FK Bodø/Glimt) 27 x 1,5 = 40,5
5. Erling Braut Haaland (Borussia Dortmund) 19 x 2 = 38
Romelu Lukaku (Internazionale Milano) 19 x 2 = 38
André Miguel Silva (Eintracht Frankfurt) 19 x 2 = 38
8. Paul Ebere Onuachu (KRC Genk) 25 x 1,5 = 37,5
Amahl Pellegrino (Kristiansund BK) 25 x 1,5 = 37,5
10. Giorgos Giakoumakis (VVV-Venlo) 24 x 1,5 = 36
Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) 18 x 2 = 36
Luis Alberto Suárez (Atlético Madrid) 18 x 2 = 36
13. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool FC) 17 x 2 = 34
14. Bruno Miguel Borges Fernandes (Manchester United) 16 x 2 = 32
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) 16 x 2 = 32
Luis Muriel Fruto (Atalanta Bergamo) 16 x 2 = 32
Wout Weghorst (VfL Wolfsburg) 16 x 2 = 32
18. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 15 x 2 = 30
Thomas Henry (Oud-Heverlee Leuven) 20 x 1,5 = 30
‘Gerard’ Moreno Balagueró (Villarreal CF) 15 x 2 = 30
21. Youssef El-Arabi (Olympiakos Piraeus) 19 x 1,5 = 28,5
Patson Daka (Red Bull Salzburg) 19 x 1,5 = 28,5
Philip Zinckernagel (FK Bodø/Glimt) 19 x 1,5 = 28,5
24. Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton FC) 14 x 2 = 28
Memphis Depay (Olympique Lyonnais) 14 x 2 = 28
Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla FC) 14 x 2 = 28
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) 14 x 2 = 28
Ciro Immobile (SS Lazio Roma) 14 x 2 = 28
Andrej Kramaric (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim) 14 x 2 = 28
Lautaro Martínez (Internazionale Milano) 14 x 2 = 28
31. Aaron Boupendza (Hatayspor Kulübü) 18 x 1,5 = 27
Christoffer Nyman (IFK Norrköping) 18 x 1,5 = 27
33. Patrick Bamford (Leeds United) 13 x 2 = 26
Lorenzo Insigne (SSC Napoli Calcio) 13 x 2 = 26
Sasa Kalajdzic (VfB Stuttgart) 13 x 2 = 26
‘João Pedro’ Galvão (Cagliari Calcio) 13 x 2 = 26
Heung-Min Son (Tottenham Hotspur) 13 x 2 = 26
Kevin Volland (AS Monaco) 13 x 2 = 26
Wissam Ben Yedder (AS Monaco) 13 x 2 = 26
40. Gianni Bruno (SV Zulte Waregem) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
Ramón Nazareno Miérez (NK Osijek) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
42. Veton Berisha (Viking FK Stavanger) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Boulaye Dia (Stade de Reims) 12 x 2 = 24
Odsonne Édouard (Celtic FC) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City) 12 x 2 = 24
Alexander Isak (Real Sociedad de Fútbol) 12 x 2 = 24
Milan Makarić (FK Radnik Surdulica) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Simeon ‘Simy’ Nwankwo (FC Crotone) 12 x 2 = 24
Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) 12 x 2 = 24
Dusan Vlahovic (ACF Fiorentina) 12 x 2 = 24
51. Rauno Sappinen (FC Flora Tallinn) 23 x 1 = 23
52. Vincent Aboubakar (Besiktas JK) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Takumo Asano (FK Partizan Beograd) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Mushaga Bakenga (Odds BK) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Steven Berghuis (Feyenoord Rotterdam) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Pedro António Pereira Gonçalves ‘Pote’ (Sporting CP) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Kristijan Lovrić (HNK Gorica) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Donyell Malen (PSV Eindhoven) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Astrit Seljmani (Varbergs BoIS) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Roman Yaremchuk (KAA Gent) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
61. Ludovic Ajorque (Racing Strasbourg Alsace) 11 x 2 = 22
Andrea Belotti (Torino FC) 11 x 2 = 22
Francesco Caputo (US Sassuolo Calcio) 11 x 2 = 22
Amine Gouiri (OGC Nice) 11 x 2 = 22
Bioty Moise Kean (Paris Saint-Germain) 11 x 2 = 22
José Luis Morales (Levante UD) 11 x 2 = 22
‘Roger’ Martí Salvador (Levante UD) 11 x 2 = 22
Karl Toko Ekambi (Olympique Lyonnais) 11 x 2 = 22
Silas Wamangituka (VfB Stuttgart) 11 x 2 = 22
70. Jens Petter Hauge (FK Bodø/Glimt) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Raphael Holzhauser (K Beerschot AC) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Sékou Koïta (Red Bull Salzburg) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Teun Koopmeiners (AZ Alkmaar) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Cyle Larin (Besiktas JK) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Moses Ogbu (Mjällby AIF) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Mislav Orsic (GNK Dinamo Zagreb) 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
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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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