The Golden Shoe, UEFA’s award for the top goalscorer in the European leagues, looks to be heading to Lionel Messi’s trophy cabinet for the fifth time.
The competition multiplies goals scored by the difficulty ranking of the league - for example La Liga has a 2.0 rating while the Eredivisie only has a 1.5 rating.
A hat-trick for Kylian Mbappe last weekend narrowed the Frenchman’s gap to Messi, but the Golden Shoe has not been won by a player outside of Spain since Liverpool ’s Luis Suarez tied with Cristiano Ronaldo in 2014.
In fact, Ronaldo is the last outright winner outside of La Liga, when he took the accolade playing for Manchester United in 2008.
So, as the end of the season approaches, here are the top 10 players vying for the honour…
10. Luis Suarez, Barcelona - 20 (goals) x 2.0 (difficulty) = 40.0
The Uruguayan has come in for some criticism this season amid patchy form, but the former Liverpool and Ajax striker has still racked up 20 goals in La Liga this year.
Barcelona are marching towards an historic treble, and while his team will likely be kings once more, Suarez continues to be the pantomime villain that many love to hate.
9. Duvan Zapata, Atalanta - 20 x 2.0 = 40.0
The Colombian striker is on loan at Atalanta from Sampdoria, but has made waves with La Dea, firing the club into fifth in Serie A and giving them a chance of Champions League qualification.
Zapata has played in Italy since signing for Napoli in 2013, but had never scored more than 11 Serie A goals in a season until now.
8. Luuk de Jong - PSV Eindhoven - 27 x 1.5 = 40.5
Those in the North East will remember Luuk de Jong for his uninspiring stint at St James’ Park, but the Swiss-born Holland striker has found his rhythm with PSV Eindhoven.
PSV, last year’s champions, are currently level on points with Ajax, who are looking for their first title in five years.
7. Karim Benzema - Real Madrid - 21 x 2.0 = 42.0
Karim Benzema is enjoying his highest scoring season in a Real Madrid shirt since 2011-12.
The Frenchman’s hat-trick over Athletic Bilbao last weekend emphasised his revival with the Spanish giants, having scored just five league goals in 32 appearances last season.
6. Krzysztof Piatek - Genoa/AC Milan 21 x 2.0 = 42.0
The 23-year-old’s scoring record speaks for itself.
The Polish striker earned a move to Italy last summer after scoring 32 goals in 65 games at Cracovia, signing for Genoa for €4million in June 2018.
Having scored 19 in 21 games (13 in Serie A) for Genoa, Piatek was snapped up by AC Milan for €35million just seven months after joining the club, and he has gone on to score a further eight in 13 Serie A games.
5. Robert Lewandowski - Bayern Munich - 21 x 2.0 = 42.0
Since his breakthrough 2010-11 season, Robert Lewandowski has only failed to score at least 20 goals in a season once.
Lewandowski’s incredible record means this season he has become the Bundesliga’s all time non-German top scorer.
This year’s Bundesliga campaign is no different, with 21 from 29 matches. The Polish forward has seen Bayern Munich charge back to the top of the German table after trailing for much of the season.
4. Mbaye Diagne - Kasimpasa/Galatasaray - 28 x 1.5 = 42.0
Perhaps one of the more surprising names on the list is Senegalese forward Mbaye Diagne.
Starting his career in Italy, but making no appearances for his parent club Juventus , Diagne had loan spells in France, Belgium, Saudi Arabia and Hungary before signing permanently with Tianjin TEDA in the Chinese
Super League.
Since moving to Turkey in 2017, Diagne has found his feet. This season the Dakar-born striker hit 20 goals in 18 Super Lig games for Kasimpasa, before joining Galatasaray in January where he has scored eight in as many matches to pile the pressure on Istanbul Basaksehir at the top of the table.
3. Fabio Quagliarella - Sampdoria - 22 x 2.0 = 44.0
Sampdoria’s decision to loan Duvan Zapata out to Atalanta has been offset by the outstanding form of 36-year-old Fabio Quagliarella.
Despite being Sampdoria’s oldest player, this is Quagliarella’s highest ever scoring season, having currently scored three more than his previous record set last year.
The twilight years of Quagliarella’s career are providing a bright horizon for the Genoan club, who could still reach Europa League qualification.
2. Kylian Mbappe - Paris Saint-Germain - 30 x 2.0 = 54.0
The French wonderkid’s blistering arrival on the biggest stage at last year’s World Cup could have been a false dawn, but the Paris-born forward is going from strength to strength.
The 20-year-old has already won the World Cup, lifted the Ligue 1 trophy three times and could win the Coupe de France for a second time this coming weekend.
PSG’s sixth Ligue 1 title in seven years came thanks to an Mbappe hat-trick in a 3-1 home win over Monaco last weekend.
1. Lionel Messi - Barcelona - 33 x 2.0 = 66.0
Who else?
The Argentina magician looks on course to complete his highest scoring season since 2014/15 (43 goals in 38 games) with 33 goals in 30 La Liga appearances.
At times this season Lionel Messi has dug his team out of holes, inspired them to thumping victories and scored goals with a sublime audacity perhaps only he is capable of.
While the next generation are hot on his heels this season, the 31-year-old will take some catching as he has a grand total of 416 league goals and counting.
