KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: Robert Lewandowski remains the leader in the ESM European Golden Shoe after an international winter break weekend.
Lewandowski, the world’s No1 footballer for the second successive year, took over the leadership in the rankings two weeks ago.
The Pole won the prize last season with his German champions FIFA’s recrowned world player of the year totalled 41 goals in the Bundesliga to finish 11 clear of Barcelona’s Leo Messi and 12 ahead of third-placed Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus.
Second place remains the possession of Ohi Omoijuanfo of Molde in Norway but his season is already over.
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.
Goals by marksmen from among the top five nations in the UEFA ranking benefit from a multiple of 2.0, the next batch (places six to 22 ) a factor of 1.5 and the remainder 1.0.
Last season Lewandowski was only the third player since 2010 to interrupt Messi and Ronaldo’s command of the award after Barcelona’s Luis Suarez in 2016 and Lazio’s Ciro Immobile last season.
As in other years the rankings does not include play-offs.
Golden Shoe leaders
1. Robert Lewandowski (FC Bayern München) 23 x 2 = 46
2. Ohi Omoijuanfo (Molde FK) 27 x 1,5 = 40,5
3. Thomas Lehne Olsen (Lillestrøm SK) 26 x 1,5 = 39
4. Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen) 18 x 2 = 36
5. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 17 x 2 = 34
Ciro Immobile (SS Lazio Roma) 17 x 2 = 34
Dusan Vlahovic (AFC Fiorentina) 17 x 2 = 34
8. Veton Berisha (Viking FK Stavanger) 22 x 1,5 = 33
9. Erling Braut Haaland (Borussia Dortmund) 16 x 2 = 32
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool FC) 16 x 2 = 32
11. Mikkel Dahl (Havnar Bóltfelag) 27 x 1 = 27
Michael Frey (Royal Antwerp FC) 18 x 1,5 = 27
Ricardo Jorge Gomes (FK Partizan Beograd) 18 x 1,5 = 27
Deniz Undav (Union Saint-Gilloise) 18 x 1,5 = 27
15. Anthony Modeste (1.FC Köln) 13 x 2 = 26
Wissam Ben Yedder (AS Monaco) 13 x 2 = 26
17. Jonathan David (Lille OSC) 12 x 2 = 24
Juan Miguel Jiménez López ‘Juanmi’ (Real Betis Sevilla) 12 x 2 = 24
Giovanni Simeone (Hellas Verona) 12 x 2 = 24
Raúl de Tomás Gómez (RCD Espanyol) 12 x 2 = 24
‘Vinícius Júnior’ José Paixão de Oliveira (Real Madrid) 12 x 2 = 24
22. Eirik Botheim (Bodø/Glimt) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Luis Fernando Díaz (FC Porto/Liverpool FC) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Marko Livaja (HNK Hajduk Split) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Darwin Núñez (SL Benfica) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
26. Iago Aspas Juncal (RC Celta de Vigo) 11 x 2 = 22
Lautaro Martínez (FC Internazionale Milano) 11 x 2 = 22
28. Karim Adeyemi (Red Bull Salzburg) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Arthur Cabral Mendonça (FC Basel/ACF Fiorentina) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Jay Donnelly (Glentoran FC) 21 x 1 = 21
Artem Dovbyk (SK Dnipro-1) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Josip Drmic (HBK Rijeka) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Georgie Kelly (Bohemian FC Dublin) 21 x 1 = 21
Dante Vanzeir (Union Saint-Gilloise) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Jelle Vossen (SV Zulte Waregem) 14 x 1,5 = 21
36. Tammy Abraham (AS Roma) 10 x 2 = 20
Ludovic Ajorque (Racing Strasbourg Alsace) 10 x 2 = 20
Henri Anier (Paide Linnameeskond) 20 x 1 = 20
Domenico Berardi (US Sassuolo Calcio) 10 x 2 = 20
Serge Gnabry (FC Bayern München) 10 x 2 = 20
Amine Gouiri (OGC Nice) 10 x 2 = 20
José Luis Mato Sanmartín ‘Joselu’ (Deportivo Alavés) 10 x 2 = 20
Diogo José Teixeira da Silva ‘Jota’ (Liverpool FC) 10 x 2 = 20
Gaëtan Laborde (Stade Rennais) 10 x 2 = 20
Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) 10 x 2 = 20
‘João Pedro’ Geraldino dos Santos Galvão (Cagliari Calcio) 10 x 2 = 20
Martin Terrier (Stade Rennais) 10 x 2 = 20
48. Gamid Agalarov (FC Ufa) 13 x 1,5 = 19,5
Jasmin Kurtic (PAOK FC) 13 x 1,5 = 19,5
Ebere Onuachu (KRC Genk) 13 x 1,5 = 19,5
Shamar Nicholson (RSC Charleroi/ FC Spartak Moskva) 13 x 1,5 = 19,5
Tom van Weert (Volos NFC) 13 x 1,5 = 19,5
53. Zakaria Beglarishvili (FCI Levadia Tallinn) 19 x 1 = 19
Norberto Bercique Gomes Betuncal ‘Beto’ (Portimonense SC/Udinese Calcio) 2 x 1,5 + 8 x 2 = 19
Dembo Darboe (FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk) 19 x 1 = 19
Rauno Sappinen (Flora Tallinn) 19 x 1 = 19
57. Taiwo Awoniyi (1. FC Union Berlin) 9 x 2 = 18
Omer Atzili (Maccabi Haifa FC) 12 x 1,5 = 18
Mohamed Bayo (Clermont Foot Auvergne 63) 9 x 2 = 18
Edin Dzeko (FC Internazionale Milano) 9 x 2 = 18
Zinho Gano (SV Zulte Waregem) 12 x 1,5 = 18
Sébastien Haller (AFC Ajax) 12 x 1,5 = 18
Ui-Jo Hwang (FC Girondins de Bordeaux) 9 x 2 = 18
Aleksandar Katai (FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd) 12 x 1,5 = 18
Páll Klettskarð (KÍ) 18 x 1 = 18
Christopher Nkunku (RasenBallsport Leipzig) 9 x 2 = 18
Aleksandar Pesic (Fatih Karagümrük AS) 12 x 1,5 = 18
Gianluca Scamacca (US Sassuolo Calcio) 9 x 2 = 18
Andrey Solovey (FC Gomel) 18 x 1 = 18
Nikola Storm (KV Mechelen) 12 x 1,5 = 18
Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) 9 x 2 = 18
Duván Zapata (Atalanta Bergamo) 9 x 2 = 18