After missing the last three league matches through injury, Barcelona ‘s Lionel Messi was back on the scoresheet at the weekend. Coming off the bench on the hour mark, Europe’s leading scorer took just 7 minutes to increase his tally for the season with a wonderful solo goal against Athletic Bilbao. 

Elsewhere in the top ten, Atletico’s Radamel Falcao took his tally to 26 after opening the scoring in the Madrid derby. Robin Van Persie took his total for the season to 25, after scoring against his old club Arsenal, on Sunday.

Bayer Leverkusen’s Stefan Kiessling was again on target and Vitesse Arnhem’s Wilfried Bony continued his remarkable season by scoring in the 3-1 win over Willem II.

POS PLAYER TEAM GOALS FACTOR PTS

1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 43 x 2 = 86
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 31 x 2 = 62
3. Radamel Falcao (Atlético Madrid) 26 x 2 = 52
4. Jackson Martinez (FC Porto) 25 x 2 = 50
Robin van Persie (Manchester United) 25 x 2 = 50
6. Wilfried Bony (Vitesse) 31 x 1.5 = 46.5
7. Edinson Cavani (Napoli) 23 x 2 = 46
Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund) 23 x 2 = 46
Luis Suarez (Liverpool) 23 x 2 = 46
10. Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen) 22 x 2 = 44
11. Philipp Hosiner (Austria Vienna) 27 x 1.5 = 40.5
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain) 27 x 1.5 = 40.5
13. Graziano Pellè (Feyenoord) 26 x 1.5 = 39
14. Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) 19 x 2 = 38
Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla) 19 x 2 = 38
16. Jonathan Soriano (Red Bull Salzburg) 25 x 1.5 = 37.5
Michael Higdon (Motherwell) 25 x 1.5 = 37.5
18. Alfred Finnbogason (Heerenveen) 24 x 1.5 = 36
Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) 18 x 2 = 36
Roberto Soldado (Valencia) 18 x 2 = 36
21. Arturas Rimkevicius (FK Siauliai) 35 x 1 = 35
22. Jozy Altidore (AZ) 23 x 1.5 = 34.5
23. Miguel Pérez Cuesta ‘Michu’ (Swansea City) 17 x 2 = 34
24. Eliran Atar (Maccabi Tel Aviv) 22 x 1.5 = 33
Carlos Bacca (Club Brugge) 22 x 1,5 = 33
Leigh Griffiths (Hibernian) 22 x 1,5 = 33
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Shakhtar Donetsk) 22 x 1.5 = 33
28. Rubén Castro (Real Betis) 16 x 2 = 32
Rodrigo Lima (Benfica) 16 x 2 = 32
Stephan El Shaarawy (Milan) 16 x 2 = 32
31. Demba Ba (Newcastle United/Chelsea) 15 x 2 = 30
Christian Benteke (Aston Villa) 15 x 2 = 30
Oscar Cardozo (Benfica) 15 x 2 = 30
German Gustavo Denis (Atalanta) 15 x 2 = 30
Rafik Djebbour (Olympiakos) 20 x 1.5 = 30
Erik Lamela (Roma) 15 x 2 = 30
Mario Mandzukic (Bayern Munich) 15 x 2 = 30
Billy McKay (Inverness Caledonian Thistle) 20 x 1.5 = 30
Pablo Osvaldo (Roma) 15 x 2 = 30
Giampaolo Pazzini (Milan) 15 x 2 = 30
Francisco Medina Luna ‘Piti’ (Rayo Vallecano) 15 x 2 = 30
Burak Yilmaz (Galatasaray) 20 x 1.5 = 30
43. Liam Boyce (Cliftonville) 29 x 1 = 29
44. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Saint-Etienne) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
Gary Hooper (Celtic) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
Niall McGinn (Aberdeen) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
Raul Rusescu (Steaua Bucharest) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
Kalu Uche (Kasimpasa) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
49. Rickie Lambert (Southampton) 14 x 2 = 28
Romelu Lukaku (West Bromwich Albion) 14 x 2 = 28
51. Andreas Cornelius (FC Copenhagen) 18 x 1.5 = 27
52. Aritz Aduriz (Athletic Bilbao) 13 x 2 = 26
Dimitar Berbatov (Fulham) 13 x 2 = 26
‘Éder’zito António Macedo Lopes (Sporting Braga) 13 x 2 = 26
Alberto Gilardino (Bologna) 13 x 2 = 26
Gonzalo Higuaín (Real Madrid) 13 x 2 = 26
Vedad Ibisevic (Stuttgart) 13 x 2 = 26
Frank Lampard (Chelsea) 13 x 2 = 26
Alexander Meier (Eintracht Frankfurt) 13 x 2 = 26
Albert Meyong (Vitoria Setúbal) 13 x 2 = 26
Adám Szalai (Mainz) 13 x 2 = 26
Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad) 13 x 2 = 26
* There remains some dispute over Messi’s ‘goal’ against Athletic Bilbao on December 2, and until that has been clarified we have chosen to exclude it from his official tally.
** Standings last updated 29/04/2013

*** Rules

Only the leading four countries – Spain, Italy, Germany, and England – 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.