Golden Shoe 2014-15: Cristiano Ronaldo Set to Be Named Europe's Top Goalscorer

Cristiano Ronaldo all but etched his name into this year's Golden Shoe award with a hat-trick in Real Madrid's 4-1 thrashing of Espanyol on Sunday.  

The Portuguese superstar is now four goals ahead of Barcelona rival Lionel Messi, who netted the only goal during Barca's 1-0 victory against Atletico Madrid. While unlikely to receive this year's individual award for being Europe's top domestic scorer, Messi can take heart from landing his side the Spanish title with his winner at the Vicente Calderon.

Here's a look at the latest Golden Shoe rankings:

Position	Player	Club	Goals x Factor	Points
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	45 x 2	90
2	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	41 x 2	82
3	Sergio Aguero	Manchester City	25 x 2	50
4	Jonatan Soriano	Red Bull Salzburg	30 x 1.5	45
=5	Antoine Griezmann	Atletico Madrid	22 x 2	44
=5	Neymar	Barcelona	22 x 2	44
7	Jackson Martinez	Porto	21 x 2	42
=8	Eran Zahavi	Maccabi Tel Aviv	27 x 1.5	40.5
=8	Alexandre Lacazette	Olympique Lyonnais	27 x 1.5	40.5
=10	Harry Kane	Tottenham Hotspur	20 x 2	40
=10	Carlos Tevez	Juventus	20 x 2	40
=10	Carlos Bacca	Sevilla	20 x 2	40

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

The standings are calculated via a simple formula. Each European division is given a difficulty between one and two, which is then used to multiply each player's number of goals to provide a total. As such, one goal for Ronaldo in La Liga is worth more than one goal for Eran Zahavi in the Israeli Premier League, as highlighted above.

Ronaldo on the Brink, Martinez Moves Up

Alex Caparros/Getty Images

With one game remaining in many of Europe's leagues, it's now almost confirmed Ronaldo will retain his Golden Shoe award. He claimed last year's prize alongside Luis Suarez—both of whom netted 31—but he is destined to win this season's plaudits by himself.

Currently on 45 La Liga goals for the season, Ronaldo's hat-trick against Espanyol puts him on the brink of individual success in an otherwise disappointing campaigning. Los Blancos can no longer win a trophy due to Messi's winner for Barca, but that didn't stop CR7 from receiving plenty of plaudits for his individual display.

His perfect hat-trick can be seen below:

Eurosport tweeted the significance of such goals:

OptaJose noted an incredible stat for the season:

Former Barcelona striker Gary Lineker made his feelings clear:

Ronaldo, who has a reputation for being selfish, will quietly be pleased about his work, according to football writer Rafael Hernandez:

Away from the top two, Porto's Jackson Martinez made up some ground with a goal in the side's draw against Belenenses.

He has netted four in three matches, per WhoScored.com, moving above the likes of Harry Kane, Carlos Tevez and Carlos Bacca. Like Ronaldo, the Colombian's strong form wasn't enough to land Porto the Portuguese title, as Benfica claimed the prize.

Francisco Seco/Associated Press

Manchester City's Sergio Aguero failed to add his name to the scoresheet for the first time in five weeks, despite Manuel Pellegrini's side racking up a quartet of strikes in the 4-2 win over Swansea City. He remains the best of the rest behind Ronaldo and Messi.

Red Bull Salzburg's Jonatan Soriano didn't play in his side's 2-2 draw with Altach, so he failed to apply pressure to Aguero's third position.

With the season's conclusion almost here, Messi needs to smash in four goals to draw level with Ronaldo. He hasn't managed this feat this season, but he will be looking to take all of his chances in an otherwise pressure-free final La Liga fixture against Deportivo La Coruna.

However, only the foolish would bet against Ronaldo scoring in Madrid's final fixture versus Getafe. Although Los Blancos will end the year with nothing to celebrate as a team, Ronaldo's credentials as a prolific goalscorer are once again highlighted by his incredible individual season.