With the remaining European seasons (Spain, Czech Republic, Poland, Switzerland) concluding last weekend, this marks the end of this season’s ESM Golden shoe. For the second season running, and the third time in the last 4 years, Europe’a leading scorer is Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

No player in the history of European football has managed to win the award on three occasions. What makes Messi’s achievement all the more remarkable is that he sat out the last month of the season with injury – his 46 goals coming from just 32 league appearances. Indeed, had Messi remained fit throughout the campaign, there was a strong possibility of him eclipsing last year’s record Spanish total of 50 goals.

In second place, as he was last year, was two-time former winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, who enjoyed another prolific season for Real Madrid. Thirty four goals is an impressive return for the Portuguese forward, and placed him five ahead of the man in third place, Napoli’s Edinson Cavani.

The top ten was completed by an array of big name strikers, although special credit should be given to Austria Vienna’s Philipp Hosiner, the only player from outside the big four leagues to make it into this season’s top ten.

POS PLAYER TEAM GOALS FACTOR PTS

1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 46 x 2 = 90
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 34 x 2 = 68
3. Edinson Cavani (Napoli) 29 x 2 = 58
4. Radamel Falcao (Atlético Madrid) 28 x 2 = 56
5. Jackson Martinez (FC Porto) 26 x 2 = 52
Robin van Persie (Manchester United) 26 x 2 = 52
7. Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen) 25 x 2 = 50
Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla) 25 x 2 = 50
9. Philipp Hosiner (Austria Vienna) 32 x 1.5 = 48
Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund) 24 x 2 = 48
Roberto Soldado (Valencia) 24 x 2 = 48
12. Wilfried Bony (Vitesse) 31 x 1,5 = 46,5
13. Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) 23 x 2 = 46
Luis Suarez (Liverpool) 23 x 2 = 46
15. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain) 30 x 1.5 = 45
16. Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) 21 x 2 = 42
17. Graziano Pellè (Feyenoord) 27 x 1.5 = 40.5
18. Rodrigo Lima (Benfica) 20 x 2 = 40
19. Michael Higdon (Motherwell) 26 x 1.5 = 39
Jonathan Soriano (Red Bull Salzburg) 26 x 1.5 = 39
21. Christian Benteke (Aston Villa) 19 x 2 = 38
22. Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Shakhtar Donetsk) 25 x 1.5 = 37.5
23. Rubén Castro (Real Betis) 18 x 2 = 36
Alfred Finnbogason (Heerenveen) 24 x 1.5 = 36
Miguel Pérez Cuesta ‘Michu’ (Swansea City) 18 x 2 = 36
Francisco Medina Luna ‘Piti’ (Rayo Vallecano) 18 x 2 = 36
Burak Yilmaz (Galatasaray) 24 x 1.5 = 36
28. Arturas Rimkevicius (FK Siauliai) 35 x 1 = 35
29. Jozy Altidore (AZ) 23 x 1.5 = 34.5
Leigh Griffiths (Hibernian) 23 x 1.5 = 34.5
Billy McKay (Inverness Caledonian Thistle) 23 x 1.5 = 34.5
32. Romelu Lukaku (West Bromwich Albion) 17 x 2 = 34
33. Eliran Atar (Maccabi Tel Aviv) 22 x 1.5 = 33
Carlos Bacca (Club Brugge) 22 x 1,5 = 33
35. Oscar Cardozo (Benfica) 16 x 2 = 32
Gonzalo Higuaín (Real Madrid) 16 x 2 = 32
Alexander Meier (Eintracht Frankfurt) 16 x 2 = 32
Pablo Osvaldo (Roma) 16 x 2 = 32
Stephan El Shaarawy (Milan) 16 x 2 = 32
40. Raul Rusescu (Steaua Bucharest) 21 x 1.5 = 31.5
Ezequiel Scarione (FC Sankt Gallen) 21 x 1.5 = 31.5
42. Demba Ba (Newcastle United/Chelsea) 15 x 2 = 30
Dimitar Berbatov (Fulham) 15 x 2 = 30
German Gustavo Denis (Atalanta) 15 x 2 = 30
Rafik Djebbour (Olympiakos) 20 x 1.5 = 30
Vedad Ibisevic (Stuttgart) 15 x 2 = 30
David Lafata (Sparta Prague) 20 x 1.5 = 30
Miroslav Klose (Lazio) 15 x 2 = 30
Rickie Lambert (Southampton) 15 x 2 = 30
Erik Lamela (Roma) 15 x 2 = 30
Frank Lampard (Chelsea) 15 x 2 = 30
Mario Mandzukic (Bayern Munich) 15 x 2 = 30
Niall McGinn (Aberdeen) 20 x 1.5 = 30
Giampaolo Pazzini (Milan) 15 x 2 = 30
55. Liam Boyce (Cliftonville) 29 x 1 = 29
56. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Saint-Etienne) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
Dario Cvitanich (Nice) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
Gary Hooper (Celtic) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
Kalu Uche (Kasimpasa SK) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
60. Aritz Aduriz (Athletic Bilbao) 14 x 2 = 28
Edin Dzeko (Manchester City) 14 x 2 = 28
Hélder Manuel Postiga (Real Zaragoza) 14 x 2 = 28
Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund) 14 x 2 = 28
Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad) 14 x 2 = 28
Theo Walcott (Arsenal) 14 x 2 = 28
Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Sporting Lisbon) 14 x 2 = 28
67. Deyvison Rogério da Silva ‘Bobô’ (Kayserispor) 18 x 1.5 = 27
Andreas Cornelius (FC Copenhagen) 18 x 1.5 = 27
69. Imanol ‘Agirretxe’ Arruti (Real Sociedad) 13 x 2 = 26
Gonzalo Bergessio (Catania Calcio) 13 x 2 = 26
‘Éder’zito António Macedo Lopes (Sporting Braga) 13 x 2 = 26
Arnaldo Edi Lopes da Silva ‘Edinho’ (Académica de Coimbra) 13 x 2 = 26
Nabil Ghilas (Moreirense) 13 x 2 = 26
Alberto Gilardino (Bologna) 13 x 2 = 26
‘Jonas’ Gonçalves Oliveira (Valencia) 13 x 2 = 26
Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina) 13 x 2 = 26
Albert Meyong (Vitoria Setúbal) 13 x 2 = 26
‘Jorge Molina’ Vidal (Real Betis) 13 x 2 = 26
Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich) 13 x 2 = 26
‘Riki’ Ivan Sanchez-Rico Soto (Deportivo La Coruña) 13 x 2 = 26
Adám Szalai (Mainz 05) 13 x 2 = 26
** Standings last updated 03/06/2013

*** 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.