Golden Shoe 2015-16: Latest Standings, Top Goalscorers in Europe on March 21
Benfica’s Jonas is the surprise leader in the race for the 2015-16 Golden Shoe gong, as he kept up his exceptional goalscoring form at the weekend.
His remarkable return of 29 league goals put him in front of Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Napoli hitman Gonzalo Higuain, who each netted to move on to 28 for the season. It was a relatively quiet weekend for Barcelona’s revered attacking trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, with only the latter getting on the scoresheet in a 2-2 draw at Villarreal.
Here are the updated standings following another gripping round of football across the continent and a recap of how some of the top contenders for this accolade fared.
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| 1 | Jonas | Benfica | 29 x 2.0 | 58.0 |
| T2. | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 28 x 2.0 | 56.0 |
| T2. | Gonzalo Higuain | Napoli | 28 x 2.0 | 56.0 |
| 4. | Luis Suarez | Barcelona | 26 x 2.0 | 52.0 |
| 5. | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | 25 X 2.0 | 50.0 |
| T6. | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 22 x 2.0 | 44.0 |
| T6. | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | Borussia Dortmund | 22 x 2.0 | 44.0 |
| T8. | Neymar | Barcelona | 21 x 2.0 | 42.0 |
| T8. | Harry Kane | Tottenham Hotspur | 21 x 2.0 | 42.0 |
| 10 | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Paris Saint-Germain | 27 x 1.5 | 40.5 |
Rules: Each league is attributed a difficulty constant between one and two, which is then multiplied by the number of goals scored to calculate their points tally.
For example, Jonas' goals are doubled because La Liga has a multiplier of two, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic's goals are multiplied by 1.5 because that is Ligue 1's rating.
Jonas Takes Outright Lead
A brace for Jonas last Monday against Tondela took his tally to the season to 28, before he netted a crucial goal against Boavista this weekend.
The veteran forward was on hand to finish in stoppage time in this one, ensuring Benfica were able to preserve their two-point gap to Sporting Lisbon in the race for the Portuguese title.
As Tom Kundert of PortuGOAL.net noted in the aftermath of the clash, it was a vital strike from the Brazil international:
Despite his stellar goalscoring this term, you suspect he’ll do well to cling to this individual prize with a collection of quality players in hot pursuit.
The man looking to retain this honour is Ronaldo, and following his goal against Sevilla, he’s now up to 28 goals for the La Liga season. He also missed a penalty in the 4-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu, but as this statistic from OptaJose illustrates, he loves coming up against the Andalusian side:
Alongside him in the running is Higuain, who continues to thrive at the point of his Partenopei side. They trail Juventus by just three points in Serie A, and the Argentina man’s goals have been vital to their wonderful campaign.
His brace against Genoa made it five in his last four for the 28-year-old, having previously gone four games without a goal in all competitions.
As we can see here courtesy of BT Sport Football, the striker’s second of the two was a sublime finish:
Also in the top 10 are Messi, Suarez and Neymar, as Barcelona made it a staggering 39 games unbeaten in all competitions as they drew 2-2 Villarreal on Sunday.
The former two of the trio were not quite at full tilt in what was a frantic contest at the Madrigal, although Neymar was able to add to his tally of strikes with a very classy penalty. Suarez now trails Jonas by three goals, with Messi seven back, although it may not be long before they’re moving up the standings once again.
The Premier League has a player in the top 10, too, with Harry Kane at the double for Tottenham Hotspur in a 3-0 win over Bournemouth.
He’s got 21 for the season, and as Ben McAleer of WhoScored.com noted, that’s pretty incredible when you consider the difficult beginning he had to the 2015-16 campaign:
The two representatives in the top 10 from the Bundesliga are Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund. The former netted the only goal for the league leaders in a 1-0 win over Cologne, while the latter didn’t feature as his side won 3-1 at Augsburg.
At this juncture it’s tough to pick a winner. Ronaldo may be the standout favourite having won this prize four times already, but of the top three, he’s the only player not involved in a genuine title race.
So while Jonas and Higuain have been magnificent already, the chance to push their respective sides to glory may potentially propel their goalscoring to even greater standards. If they can become the driving force behind a glorious finish for their teams, then the Golden Shoe could come as a consequence.
