Lionel Messi overtakes Cristiano Ronaldo in race to become Europe’s leading goalscorer

At the turn of the year Lionel Messi trailed his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo by 12 goals (24 points) in the ESM Golden Shoe standings. Now, three months down the line, he has leapfrogged the Real Madrid forward after scoring both goals in Barcelona’s 2-0 win at Eibar on Saturday.

The Argentinian now has 32 goals for the season, two more than Ronaldo who, after scoring 26 goals in the first 16 games of the season, has now managed just four in the last 11. In contrast, Messi, who las looked back to his best in recent weeks, has scored an astonishing 17 goals in his last 11 matches. The two come face to face next week when Barcelona host Real Madrid in what looks set to be a season defining Clasico

Elsewhere in the top ten, there were goals for Eintracht Frankfurt’s Alexander Meier in his side’s 4-0 win over Paderborn and Diego Costa in Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Southampton.

POS PLAYER TEAM GOALS FACTOR PTS

1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 32 x 2 = 64
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 30 x 2 = 60
3. Alexander Meier (Eintracht Frankfurt) 19 x 2 = 38
4. Diego Costa (Chelsea) 18 x 2 = 36
Evgeni Kabaev (Sillamäe Kalev) 36 x 1 = 36
6. Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon) 23 x 1,5 = 34,5
7. Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) 17 x 2 = 34
Jackson Martinez (FC Porto) 17 x 2 = 34
‘Neymar’ da Silva (Barcelona) 17 x 2 = 34
Arjen Robben (Bayern Münich) 17 x 2 = 34
11. Andrej Kramaric (HNK Rijeka/Leicester City) 21 x 1,5 + 1 x 2 = 33,5
12. Carlos Bacca (Sevilla) 16 x 2 = 32
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) 16 x 2 = 32
Igor Subbotin (Levadia Tallinn) 32 x 1 = 32
15. Jonatan Soriano (Red Bull Salzburg) 21 x 1,5 = 31,5
16. Charlie Austin (Queens Park Rangers) 15 x 2 = 30
Alberto Bueno (Rayo Vallecano) 15 x 2 = 30
Mauro Icardi (Internazionale) 15 x 2 = 30
Fabrice Kouadio ‘Manucho’ (FC Infonet) 30 x 1 = 30
Carlos Tevez (Juventus) 15 x 2 = 30
Eran Zahavi (Maccabi Tel Aviv) 20 x 1,5 = 30
22. Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid) 14 x 2 = 28
Vladislavs Gutkovskis (Skonto Riga) 28 x 1 = 28
24. Bas Dost (Wolfsburg) 13 x 2 = 26
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 13 x 2 = 26
Gonzalo Higuaín (Napoli) 13 x 2 = 26
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Münich) 13 x 2 = 26
Jérémy Menez (Milan) 13 x 2 = 26
Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) 13 x 2 = 26
Luca Toni (Hellas Verona) 13 x 2 = 26
31. Vidar Örn Kjartansson (Valerenga IF) 25 x 1 = 25
Edison Luis dos Santos ‘Tarabai’ (Hibernian) 25 x 1 = 25
Chris Venables (Aberystwyth Town) 25 x 1 = 25
34. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) 12 x 2 = 24
Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion) 12 x 2 = 24
Robert Beric (Rapid Vienna) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Memphis Depay (PSV) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Paulo Dybala (Palermo) 12 x 2 = 24
Shkelzen Gashi (Basel) 16 x 1,5 = 24
André-Pierre Gignac (Marseille) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Rodrigo José ‘Lima’ dos Santos (Benfica) 12 x 2 = 24
Ahmed Hassan ‘Koka’ (Rio Ave) 12 x 2 = 24
Mario Mandzukic (Atlético Madrid) 12 x 2 = 24
Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich) 12 x 2 = 24
Jordan Owens (Crusaders) 24 x 1 = 24
Franco di Santo (Werder Bremen) 12 x 2 = 24
Luciano Víetto (Villarreal) 12 x 2 = 24