KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: Robert Lewandowski  may return for Bayern Munich this weekend at Mainz to try to extend his lead in the top scoring charts in the Bundesliga and in the ESM European Golden Shoe.

The world’s top player has scored 35 Bundesliga goals 10 clear of Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo and 11 ahead of Barcelona’s Leo Messi.

Lewandowski promises to become only the third player since 2010 to interrupted the duo’s command after Barcelona’s Luis Suarez in 2016 and Lazio’s Ciro Immobile last season.

Ronaldo has won the Golden Shoe four times and Messi on six occasions.

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

As in other years the rankings does not include play-offs which means that the leagues in countries such as Cyprus, Austria and Greece are already finished for the ESM Golden Shoe ranking.

Golden Shoe standings

(Ranking multiplication based on UEFA coefficient status)

1. Robert Lewandowski (FC Bayern München) 35 x 2 = 70

2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) 25 x 2 = 50

3. Erling Braut Haaland (Borussia Dortmund) 23 x 2 = 46
— Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) 23 x 2 = 46
— Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 23 x 2 = 46
— André Miguel Silva (Eintracht Frankfurt) 23 x 2 = 46

7. Paul Ebere Onuachu (KRC Genk) 29 x 1,5 = 43,5
8. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)21 x 2 = 42
Romelu Lukaku (Internazionale Milano) 21 x 2 = 42
10. Kasper Junker (FK Bodø/Glimt) 27 x 1,5 = 40,5
11. ‘Gerard’ Moreno Balagueró (Villarreal CF) 20 x 2 = 40
12. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 19 x 2 = 38
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool FC) 19 x 2 = 38
Luis Alberto Suárez (Atlético Madrid) 19 x 2 = 38
Wout Weghorst (VfL Wolfsburg) 19 x 2 = 38
16. Amahl Pellegrino (Kristiansund BK) 25 x 1,5 = 37,5
17. Memphis Depay (Olympique Lyonnais) 18 x 2 = 36
Giorgos Giakoumakis (VVV-Venlo) 24 x 1,5 = 36
Luis Muriel Fruto (Atalanta Bergamo) 18 x 2 = 36
20. Simeon ‘Simy’ Nwankwo (FC Crotone) 17 x 2 = 34
Wissam Ben Yedder (AS Monaco) 17 x 2 = 34
22. Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla FC) 16 x 2 = 32
Bruno Miguel Borges Fernandes (Manchester United) 16 x 2 = 32
Ciro Immobile (SS Lazio Roma) 16 x 2 = 32
25. Thomas Henry (Oud-Heverlee Leuven) 21 x 1,5 = 31,5
26. Gianni Bruno (SV Zulte Waregem) 20 x 1,5 = 30
Patson Daka (Red Bull Salzburg) 20 x 1,5 = 30
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) 15 x 2 = 30
Lorenzo Insigne (SSC Napoli Calcio) 15 x 2 = 30
Milan Makarić (FK Radnik Surdulica) 20 x 1,5 = 30
Lautaro Martínez (Internazionale Milano) 15 x 2 = 30
Ramón Nazareno Miérez (NK Osijek) 20 x 1,5 = 30
Dusan Vlahovic (ACF Fiorentina) 15 x 2 = 30
Kevin Volland (AS Monaco) 15 x 2 = 30
35. Aaron Boupendza (Hatayspor Kulübü) 19 x 1,5 = 28,5
Youssef El-Arabi (Olympiakos Piraeus) 19 x 1,5 = 28,5
Philip Zinckernagel (FK Bodø/Glimt) 19 x 1,5 = 28,5
38. Patrick Bamford (Leeds United) 14 x 2 = 28
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton FC) 14 x 2 = 28
Boulaye Dia (Stade de Reims) 14 x 2 = 28
Sasa Kalajdzic (VfB Stuttgart) 14 x 2 = 28
Andrej Kramaric (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim) 14 x 2 = 28
Heung-Min Son (Tottenham Hotspur) 14 x 2 = 28
44. Takumo Asano (FK Partizan Beograd) 18 x 1,5 = 27
Jean-Pierre Nsame (BSC Young Boys) 18 x 1,5 = 27
Christoffer Nyman (IFK Norrköping) 18 x 1,5 = 27
47. Domenico Berardi (US Sassuolo Calcio) 13 x 2 = 26
Alexander Isak (Real Sociedad de Fútbol) 13 x 2 = 26
Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal) 13 x 2 = 26
‘João Pedro’ Galvão (Cagliari Calcio) 13 x 2 = 26
Duván Zapata (Atalanta Bergamo) 13 x 2 = 26
52. Steven Berghuis (Feyenoord Rotterdam) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
Pedro António Pereira Gonçalves ‘Pote’ (Sporting CP) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
Nenad Lukic (FK TSC Backa Topola) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
Donyell Malen (PSV Eindhoven) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
Yuma Suzuki (Sint-Truiden VV) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
Roman Yaremchuk (KAA Gent) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
58. Ludovic Ajorque (Racing Strasbourg Alsace) 12 x 2 = 24
Iago Aspas Juncal (RC Celta de Vigo) 12 x 2 = 24
Sardar Azmoun (FC Zenit Sint-Petersburg) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Andrea Belotti (Torino FC) 12 x 2 = 24
Veton Berisha (Viking FK Stavanger) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Andy Delort (Montpellier Hérault SC) 12 x 2 = 24
Odsonne Édouard (Celtic FC) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Amine Gouiri (OGC Nice) 12 x 2 = 24
Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City) 12 x 2 = 24
Raphael Holzhauser (K Beerschot AC) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Bioty Moise Kean (Paris Saint-Germain) 12 x 2 = 24
Gaëtan Laborde (Montpellier Hérault SC) 12 x 2 = 24
Rafael ‘Rafa Mir’ Vicente (SD Huesca) 12 x 2 = 24
Smail Prevljak (KAS Eupen) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Haris Seferovic (SL Benfica) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Lars Stindl (Borussia Mönchengladbach) 12 x 2 = 24
Karl Toko Ekambi (Olympique Lyonnais) 12 x 2 = 24
Ike Ugbo (Cercle Brugge KSV) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) 12 x 2 = 24
Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa FC) 12 x 2 = 24

** 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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