KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: Robert Lewandowski’s weekend double for Bayern Munich in the German champions’ 4-0 win over Union Berlin extended his lead in the ESM European Golden Shoe rankings.

Poland’s captain moved nine goals clear of the field while closest pursuer, Karim Benzema, was out of action because of injury which prevented him appearing for Real Madrid in the Spanish league leaders’ 4-0 home defeat by Barcelona.

Lewandowski has now scored 45 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions this season. His goals at the weekend took his Bundesliga tally for the season to 31 goals, meaning he has surpassed the milestone of 30 Bundesliga goals for the fifth time in his career.

He thus matched the feat of old Bayern hero Gerd Muller between 1969 and 1974.

Last season FIFA’s world player of the year won the Golden Shoe with 41 goals in the Bundesliga to finish 11 clear of Barcelona’s Leo Messi and 12 ahead of third-placed Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus.

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) 31 x 2 = 62
2. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 22 x 2 = 44
3. Ciro Immobile (SS Lazio Roma) 21 x 2 = 42
— Dusan Vlahovic (AFC Fiorentina/Juventus) 21 x 2 = 42
5. Ohi Omoijuanfo (Molde FK) 27 x 1,5 = 40,5
6. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool FC) 20 x 2 = 40
Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen) 20 x 2 = 40
8. Thomas Lehne Olsen (Lillestrøm SK) 26 x 1,5 = 39
9. Deniz Undav (Union Saint-Gilloise) 25 x 1,5 = 37,5
10. Wissam Ben Yedder (AS Monaco) 17 x 2 = 34
11. Veton Berisha (Viking FK Stavanger) 22 x 1,5 = 33
Michael Frey (Royal Antwerp FC) 22 x 1,5 = 33
Ricardo Jorge Gomes (FK Partizan Beograd) 22 x 1,5 = 33
Marko Livaja (HNK Hajduk Split) 22 x 1,5 = 33
15. Erling Braut Haaland (Borussia Dortmund) 16 x 2 = 32
Martin Terrier (Stade Rennais) 16 x 2 = 32
17. Tammy Abraham (AS Roma) 15 x 2 = 30
Sébastien Haller (AFC Ajax) 20 x 1,5 = 30
Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) 15 x 2 = 30
Anthony Modeste (1.FC Köln) 15 x 2 = 30
Christopher Nkunku (RasenBallsport Leipzig) 15 x 2 = 30
Darwin Núñez (SL Benfica) 20 x 1,5 = 30
Giovanni Simeone (Hellas Verona) 15 x 2 = 30
24. Domenico Berardi (US Sassuolo Calcio) 14 x 2 = 28
Gaëtan Laborde (Stade Rennais) 14 x 2 = 28
Lautaro Martínez (FC Internazionale Milano) 14 x 2 = 28
Raúl de Tomás Gómez (RCD Espanyol) 14 x 2 = 28
Enes Ünal (Getafe CF) 14 x 2 = 28
‘Vinícius Júnior’ José Paixão de Oliveira (Real Madrid) 14 x 2 = 28
30. Omer Atzili (Maccabi Haifa FC) 18 x 1,5 = 27
Mikkel Dahl (Havnar Bóltfelag) 27 x 1 = 27
32. Luis Fernando Díaz (FC Porto/Liverpool FC) 15 x 1,5 + 2 x 2 = 26,5
33. Iago Aspas Juncal (RC Celta de Vigo) 13 x 2 = 26
Jonathan David (Lille OSC) 13 x 2 = 26
Diogo José Teixeira da Silva ‘Jota’ (Liverpool FC) 13 x 2 = 26
Gianluca Scamacca (US Sassuolo Calcio) 13 x 2 = 26
Heung-min Son (Tottenham Hotspur) 13 x 2 = 26
38. Djordje Jovanovic (FK Cukaricki Stankom/Maccabi Tel Aviv) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
Aleksandar Katai (FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
Theoson−Jordan Siebatcheu (BSC Young Boys) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
Jelle Vossen (SV Zulte Waregem) 17 x 1,5 = 25,5
42. Nemanja Bilbija (HSK Zrinjski Mostar) 24 x 1 = 24
Moussa Diaby (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) 12 x 2 = 24
Josip Drmic (HBK Rijeka) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Edin Dzeko (FC Internazionale Milano) 12 x 2 = 24
Juan Miguel Jiménez López ‘Juanmi’ (Real Betis Sevilla) 12 x 2 = 24
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) 12 x 2 = 24
Sadio Mané (Liverpool FC) 12 x 2 = 24
Ebere Onuachu (KRC Genk) 16 x 1,5 = 24
‘Cristiano Ronaldo‘ dos Santos Aveiro (Manchester United) 12 x 2 = 24
51. Martin Ádám (Paksi FC) 23 x 1 = 23
Arthur Cabral Mendonça (FC Basel/ACF Fiorentina) 14 x 1,5 + 1 x 2 = 23
Jay Donnelly (Glentoran FC) 23 x 1 = 23
54. Karim Adeyemi (Red Bull Salzburg) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Eirik Botheim (Bodø/Glimt) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Ricardo Jorge da Luz Horta (SC Braga) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Ayoub El Kaabi (Hatayspor) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Jasmin Kurtic (PAOK FC) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Nikola Storm (KV Mechelen) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Tarik Tissoudali (KAA Gent) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
61. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal/FC Barcelona) 11 x 2 = 22
Taiwo Awoniyi (1. FC Union Berlin) 11 x 2 = 22
Ángel Martín Correa (Club Atlético de Madrid) 11 x 2 = 22
Gonçalo Manuel Guedes (Valencia CF) 11 x 2 = 22
José Luis Mato Sanmartín ‘Joselu’ (Deportivo Alavés) 11 x 2 = 22
Victor Osimhen (SSC Napoli) 11 x 2 = 22
Ivan Toney (Brentford FC) 11 x 2 = 22
68. Gamid Agalarov (FC Ufa) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Umut Bozok (Kasimpasa SK) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Assan Ceesay (FC Zürich) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Din David (Maccabi Haifa FC) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Artem Dovbyk (SK Dnipro-1) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Mikhael Ishak (KKS Lech Poznań) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Iván López Álvarez ‘Ivi’ (RKS Raków Częstochowa) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Georgie Kelly (Bohemian FC Dublin) 21 x 1 = 21
Declan McManus (The New Saints) 21 x 1 = 21
Shamar Nicholson (RSC Charleroi/FC Spartak Moskva) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Mehdi Taremi (FC Porto) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Guus Til (Feyenoord Rotterdam) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Dante Vanzeir (Union Saint-Gilloise) 14 x 1,5 = 21

** 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), Telegraaf/Telesport (Netherlands), Tipsbladet (Denmark), World Soccer (England). Affiliated members: Kick Off (South Africa), Titan Sport (China), Netease (China), SportalKorea (South-Korea).