Golden Shoe 2016-17: Top Goalscorers in Europe, Latest Points on May 8

Lionel Messi's seventh brace in his last 10 La Liga matches has sent him eight points clear of Bas Dost in the race for the Golden Shoe.

The Barcelona man helped his side to a 4-1 win over Villarreal, with Luis Suarez also finding the net, while Dost failed to get on the scoresheet as Sporting Lisbon sank to a 3-1 defeat to Belenenses.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled level with Robert Lewandowski as the Bundesliga's top scorer, while Edin Dzeko could win the Capocannoniere in Serie A after moving two goals clear of Andrea Belotti.

Here are the standings:

Position	Player	Club	Goals x Constant	Points
1.	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	35 x 2.0	70.0
2.	Bas Dost	Sporting Club	31 x 2.0	62.0
T3.	Robert Lewandowski	Bayern Munich	28 x 2.0	56.0
T3.	Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang	Borussia Dortmund	28 x 2.0	56.0
T5.	Luis Suarez	Barcelona	27 x 2.0	54.0
T5.	Edin Dzeko	Roma	27 x 2.0	54.0
T7.	Andrea Belotti	Torino	25 x 2.0	50.0
T7.	Anthony Modeste	FC Cologne	25 x 2.0	50.0
9.	Edinson Cavani	Paris Saint-Germain	33 x 1.5	49.5
T10.	Gonzalo Higuain	Juventus	24 x 2.0	48.0

Rules: Every European league is given a difficulty rating between one and two by UEFA, which is then multiplied by a player's goal tally to calculate their points total.

For example, goals in La Liga or Serie A are worth the maximum of two points each, whereas goals in Ligue 1 are worth 1.5 points each.

Messi Takes Control of the Race

With his team level at 1-1 after Cedric Bakambu cancelled out Neymar's opener, the Argentinian sprang into action and left Rodrigo Hernandez on the floor as he dribbled toward goal before firing in a low effort from 20 yards.

The strike marked yet another milestone for the 29-year-old this season:

Messi has now reached that tally for the fifth time in his career, and he wasn't done there on Saturday.

After Suarez added a third from a tight angle, Barcelona were awarded a penalty when the Uruguayan struck the ball on to Jaume Costa's hand. Messi dispatched the spot-kick with a delicious Panenka.

With just two matches left for both Messi and Dost in their respective leagues, it will take a monumental effort for the Dutchman to overhaul the four-goal deficit.

It wasn't a vintage performance from Aubameyang as Borussia Dortmund beat Hoffenheim 2-1, but he nevertheless found the back of the net.

As Bundesliga expert Alex Chaffer demonstrated, he was ineffectual in the first half, which also included a missed penalty:

However, he later turned in Raphael Guerreiro's rebound from the post to put BVB 2-0 up, which would prove crucial as Andrej Kramaric pulled one back for their opponents minutes after.

In Serie A, Dzeko looks set to finish the season as top scorer after finally getting in front of Belotti, with the pair having been level on 25 goals for several weeks.

He curled in a superb opener after just eight minutes courtesy of a lovely one-two with Mohamed Salah, and he also turned in a header to set Roma on their way to a 4-1 victory over AC Milan at the San Siro.

BBC Sport hailed his achievement:

The campaign also marks the most prolific of the 31-year-old's career, beating the 26-goal season he enjoyed at Wolfsburg in 2008-09.

Belotti has three matches left in which to try to overtake the Bosnian. Torino play Napoli followed by Genoa and Sassuolo, while Roma play Juventus, Chievo and Genoa.