Golden Shoe 2014-15: Latest Standings, Top Goal-Scorers in Europe on April 6

Cristiano Ronaldo’s quintet of goals in Real Madrid’s remarkable 9-1 demolition of Granada thrust him to the front of the race to be named as European football’s top marksman.

After cutting the gap on Lionel Messi last week, the Portuguese star galloped to the front of the pack in the early-afternoon Madrid sun, as the Granada defence crumbled under the weight of wave after wave of Los Blancos attacks. Naturally, Ronaldo now boasts a comfortable buffer in the battle for the Golden Shoe.

Here are the very latest standings following an engrossing Easter weekend in Europe and a closer examination of some of the standout performers over the last couple of days.

Position	Player	Club	Goals x Factor	Points
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	36 x 2	72
2	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	32 x 2	64
=3	Alexander Meier	Eintracht Frankfurt	19 x 2	38
=3	Diego Costa	Chelsea	19 x 2	38
=3	Harry Kane	Tottenham	19 x 2	38
=6	Evgeni Kabaev	Sillamae Kalev	36 x 1	36
=6	Alexandre Lacazette	Lyon	24 x 1.5	36
=8	Jonathan Soriano	Red Bull Salzburg	23 x 1.5	34.5
=8	Eran Zahavi	Maccabi Tel Aviv	23 x 1.5	34.5
=10	Neymar	Barcelona	17 x 2	34
=10	Carlos Tevez	Juventus	17 x 2	34
=10	Jackson Martinez	Porto	17 x 2	34
=10	Sergio Aguero	Manchester City	17 x 2	34
=10	Carlos Bacca	Sevilla	17 x 2	34

Sensational Ronaldo Surges Clear

Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press

The format for this competition sees goals scored multiplied by a figure dependant on the difficulty of the league the player is competing in. Europe’s five top leagues—the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Liga Sagres—all preserve the most difficulty and therefore the highest constant.

So with double points on offer for those stars operating in the Spanish top flight, Ronaldo surged to the top of the pile. His five goals saw him accrue 10 points over the course of the weekend, which means there are now eight points separating him and Messi in the race to take this coveted individual title.

The haul means that Ronaldo is now on a staggering 36 goals for the season; Sky Sports News HQ put his achievements into context:

"

Ronaldo has scored 36 goals in @LaLiga this season, that's more than nine of the clubs in the @premierleague. #SSNHQ pic.twitter.com/EPGJiOWoxr

— Sky Sports News HQ (@SkySportsNewsHQ) April 5, 2015"

In truth, the Portuguese sensation could have had even more goals here. He scorched the Santiago Bernabeu pitch throughout the afternoon with some dazzling pieces of play and was irrepressible in his desire to get into dangerous positions and make telling contributions throughout the course of the contest.

But despite squandering a few golden opportunities—given Ronaldo's insatiable desire for goals, you suspect he will have been a little disappointed to miss so many chances—a return of five goals is nothing to be ashamed off. Here are some more numbers following this virtuoso display, per Squawka Football:

"

Cristiano Ronaldo's game by numbers vs. Granada: 5 goals 13 shots 2 chances created Mesmerising performance. pic.twitter.com/O6AMmTX2jD

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) April 5, 2015"

"

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 300 goals in 287 appearances for Real Madrid in all competitions. pic.twitter.com/9t9LOmMIaJ

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) April 5, 2015"

While the Blaugrana ground out a 1-0 win later in the day to reestablish their four-point lead at the top of the table, this performance was an emphatic reminder of why we shouldn't write Madrid off. They’ll still fancy their chances of catching the Catalan giants on domestic front, not to mention progressing further in the Champions League. With Ronaldo in this kind of form, it’d be foolish to back against them.

Ian Walton/Getty Images

Aside from the Portuguese superstar, it wasn’t a great weekend for the rest of Europe’s finest forwards. Messi flickered in and out of the game for Barcelona against Celta Vigo, Diego Costa hobbled off injured for Chelsea against Stoke City and Harry Kane was nullified by a belligerent Burnley back line.

Indeed, the next player on the list to have even found the net was Alexandre Lacazette. He bagged his 24th Ligue 1 goal of the campaign as Lyon kept their title aspirations alive with a 3-1 win at Guingamp.

Laurent Cipriani/Associated Press

The Ligue 1 multiplier means that the Frenchman doesn’t feature in the upper reaches of this particular category, but Lacazette has been the standout player in the division this season. As we can see here courtesy of Get French Football, the forward’s contribution throughout the campaign has been all-encompassing:

Here’s a look at some of the finest moments from Lacazette’s stunning season up to now:

The effervescent young side assembled by Hubert Fournier are second in the division, but will be confident of pushing Paris Saint-Germain—ahead by a point after their win over Marseille in Le Classique—close in the race for the title. With Lacazette in perennially prolific form, we could be set for a thrilling climax to the campaign in the French top flight.