What has happened to Cristiano Ronaldo? At one point, just a few weeks ago, he was 12 goals (and 24 points) ahead of Lionel Messi in the race to become Europe’s leading scorer, but now that gap has shrunk to just 2 goals.
Admittedly, the Portuese forward missed two matches through suspension, but since returning to action, he has failed to hit the target in his last two matches. In 2015, Ronaldo has scored just four league goals and his seemingly unassailable lead has withered.
In contrast, his great rival, Messi, has notched up 12 in the calendar year so far. Sunday’s hat-trick against Levante was his 23rd in the league for Barcelona – equalling Ronaldo’s La Liga record – and took him to 26 goals for the season.
Elsewhere in the top ten, it was a quiet week with Neymar, Messi’s Barcelona teammate, the only player to add to his tally for the season.
POS PLAYER TEAM GOALS FACTOR PTS
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 28 x 2 = 56
2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 26 x 2 = 52
3. Evgeni Kabaev (Sillamäe Kalev) 36 x 1 = 36
4. Diego Costa (Chelsea) 17 x 2 = 34
‘Neymar’ da Silva (FC Barcelona) 17 x 2 = 34
6. Andrej Kramaric (HNK Rijeka/Leicester City) 21 x 1,5 + 1 x 2 = 33,5
7. Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) 16 x 2 = 32
Jackson Martinez (Porto) 16 x 2 = 32
Igor Subbotin (Levadia Tallinn) 32 x 1 = 32
10. Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon) 21 x 1,5 = 31,5
Jonatan Soriano (Red Bull Salzburg) 21 x 1,5 = 31,5
12. Fabrice Kouadio ‘Manucho’ (FC Infonet) 30 x 1 = 30
13. Eran Zahavi (Maccabi Tel Aviv) 19 x 1,5 = 28,5
14. Vladislavs Gutkovskis (Skonto Riga) 28 x 1 = 28
Alexander Meier (Eintracht Frankfurt) 14 x 2 = 28
Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich) 14 x 2 = 28
Carlos Tevez (Juventus) 14 x 2 = 28
18. Charlie Austin (Queens Park Rangers) 13 x 2 = 26
Carlos Bacca (Sevilla) 13 x 2 = 26
Mauro Icardi (Internazionale) 13 x 2 = 26
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) 13 x 2 = 26
22. Vidar Örn Kjartansson (Valerenga IF) 25 x 1 = 25
Chris Venables (Aberystwyth Town) 25 x 1 = 25
24. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 12 x 2 = 24
Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid) 12 x 2 = 24
Gonzalo Higuaín (Napoli) 12 x 2 = 24
Jérémy Menez (Milan) 12 x 2 = 24
Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) 12 x 2 = 24
29. Joe Gormley (Cliftonville) 23 x 1 = 23
Janis Ikaunieks (Metalurgs Liepajas) 23 x 1 = 23
Lasse Vibe (IFK Göteborg) 23 x 1 = 23
32. Memphis Depay (PSV) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Mickaël Poté (Omonia Nicosia) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Nikolai Yanush (FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
35. Paulo Dybala (Palermo) 11 x 2 = 22
Ahmed Hassan Mahgoub ‘Koka’ (Rio Ave) 11 x 2 = 22
Mario Mandzukic (Atlético Madrid) 11 x 2 = 22
Klaemint Olsen (NSI) 22 x 1 = 22
Albert Prosa (Flora Tallinn) 22 x 1 = 22
Edison Luis dos Santos ‘Tarabai’ (Hibernian FC) 22 x 1 = 22
Rules
Only the leading five countries – Spain, Italy, Germany, England and Portugal – in the UEFA rankings have two as their multiplier. This is to emphasise the difference in (international) performance level between clubs from those countries and those of other nations.A player cannot play first in a summer league (e.g. Norway) and then in a winter league (e.g. Spain) and combine the points totals for each season.
