For the second week running, Lionel Messi came off the bench to inspire Barcelona. With virtually his first kick of the game the Argentinian curled in a wonderful free-kick to put the Catalan outfit ahead against Real Betis. A second goal on 71 minutes took Messi to 46 league goals for the current campaign and on course to beat last season’s Spanish league record of 50.
Messi’s closest rival at the top of the ESM Golden Shoe standings is Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Portuguese maintained his rich vein of form with two goals in Real Madrid’s 4-3 win over Real Valladolid.
Elsewhere in the top ten, the only other player to get on the scoresheet was Bayer Leverkusen’s Stefan Kiessling, who took his tally to 23 for the season.
POS PLAYER TEAM GOALS FACTOR PTS
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 33 x 2 = 66
3. Radamel Falcao (Atlético Madrid) 26 x 2 = 52
Edinson Cavani (Napoli) 25 x 2 = 52
5. Robin van Persie (Manchester United) 25 x 2 = 50
Jackson Martinez (FC Porto) 25 x 2 = 50
7. Wilfried Bony (Vitesse) 31 x 1.5 = 46.5
8. Luis Suarez (Liverpool) 23 x 2 = 46
Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund) 23 x 2 = 46
Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen) 23 x 2 = 46
11. Philipp Hosiner (FK Austria) 29 x 1.5 = 43.5
12. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris SG) 27 x 1.5 = 40.5
13. Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) 20 x 2 = 40
Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla) 20 x 2 = 40
15. Graziano Pellè (Feyenoord) 26 x 1.5 = 39
Michael Higdon (Motherwell) 26 x 1.5 = 39
17. Roberto Soldado (Valencia) 19 x 2 = 38
18. Jonathan Soriano (Salzburg) 25 x 1.5 = 37.5
19. Christian Benteke (Aston Villa) 18 x 2 = 36
Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) 18 x 2 = 36
Alfred Finnbogason (Heerenveen) 24 x 1.5 = 36
22. Arturas Rimkevicius (FK Siauliai) 35 x 1 = 35
23. Jozy Altidore (AZ) 23 x 1.5 = 34,5
Billy McKay (Inverness Caledonian Thistle) 23 x 1.5 = 34,5
25. Miguel Perez Cuesta ‘Michu’ (Swansea City) 17 x 2 = 34
Rodrigo Lima (Benfica) 17 x 2 = 34
27. Eliran Atar (Maccabi Tel Aviv) 22 x 1.5 = 33
Carlos Bacca (Club Brugge) 22 x 1.5 = 33
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Shakhtar) 22 x 1.5 = 33
Leigh Griffiths (Hibernian) 22 x 1.5 = 33
Burak Yilmaz (Galatasaray SK22 x 1.5 = 33
32. Ruben Castro (Real Betis) 16 x 2 = 32
Daniel Osvaldo (Roma) 16 x 2 = 32
Stephan El Shaarawy (Milan) 16 x 2 = 32
Oscar Cardozo (Benfica) 16 x 2 = 32
36. Francisco Medina Luna’Piti’ (Rayo Vallecano) 15 x 2 = 30
Demba Ba (Newcastle United/Chelsea) 15 x 2 = 30
Mario Mandzukic (Bayern Munich) 15 x 2 = 30
Alexander Meier (Eintracht Frankfurt) 15 x 2 = 30
German Denis (Atalanta) 15 x 2 = 30
Rafik Djebbour (Olympiakos) 20 x 1,5 = 30
Giampaolo Pazzini (Milan) 15 x 2 = 30
Erik Lamela (Roma) 15 x 2 = 30
Niall McGinn (Aberdeen) 20 x 1.5 = 30
Raul Rusescu (Steaua Bucharest) 20 x 1.5 = 30
46. Liam Boyce (Cliftonville) 29 x 1 = 29
47. Gary Hooper (Celtic) 19 x 1,5 = 28,5
Kala Uche (Kasimpasa) 19 x 1,5 = 28,5
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Saint-Etienne) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
50. Rickie Lambert (Southampton) 14 x 2 = 28
Romelu Lukaku (West Bromwich Albion 14 x 2 = 28
52. Andreas Cornelius (FC Copenhagen) 18 x 1.5 = 27
53. Aritz Aduriz (Athletic Bilbao) 13 x 2 = 26
Riki (Deportivo) 13 x 2 = 26
Jonas (Valencia) 13 x 2 = 26
Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad) 13 x 2 = 26
Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid 13 x 2 = 26
Theo Walcott (Arsenal) 13 x 2 = 26
Frank Lampard (Chelsea) 13 x 2 = 26
Dimitar Berbatov (Fulham) 13 x 2 = 26
Adam Szalai (Mainz 05) 13 x 2 = 26
Vedad Ibesevic (Stuttgart) 13 x 2 = 26
Alberto Gilardino (Bologna) 13 x 2 = 26
Albert Meyong (Vitoria Setubal) 13 x 2 = 26
Eder (Sporting Braga) 13 x 2 = 26
Nabil Ghilas (Moreirense) 13 x 2 = 26
*** 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.
