Golden Shoe 2018-19: Top Goalscorers in Europe, Updated Points on January 7

Lionel Messi hit the top of the standings in the race for the 2018-19 European Golden Shoe as he netted his 16th La Liga goal of the season against Getafe on Sunday.

The Argentinian superstar is a five-time winner of the award and took advantage of the fact many of Europe's major leagues were not in action over the weekend to move into pole position to take this season's gong.

He overtook Liliu to take top spot. The Brazilian striker netted 31 goals in an impressive campaign in Estonia's 2018 Meistriliiga.

Here are the full standings:

1. Lionel Messi, Barcelona: 16 x 2.0 difficulty factor = 32.0 

2. Liliu, Kalju: 31 goals x 1.0 = 31.0 points

T3. Paulinho, Hacken: 20 x 1.5 = 30.0

T3. Mbaye Diagne, Kasimpasa: 20 x 1.5 = 30.0

T3. Zakaria Beglarishvili, Flora: 30 x 1.0 = 30.0

6. Patrick Hoban, Dundalk: 29 x 1.0 = 29.0

T7. Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus: 14 x 2.0 = 28.0

T7. Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur: 14 x 2.0 = 28.0

T7. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal: 14 x 2.0 = 28.0

T10. Robert Skov, FC Copenhagen: 18 x 1.5 = 27.0

Rules: All European leagues are assigned a difficulty factor between one and two by UEFA, which is multiplied by a player's goal tally to calculate their points total.

For example, the Estonian Meistriliiga has a factor of just one, so Liliu's goals for Kalju are worth just one point each, whereas Messi's are worth double that because La Liga's factor is two.

The likes of Liliu, Paulinho and Zakaria Beglarishvili have been dominating the top of the standings for some time now.

But Messi is the first player from Europe's major leagues to jump ahead of them all, and Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are unlikely to be far behind.

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur were both in FA Cup action at the weekend, so neither Kane nor Aubameyang were able to add to their Premier League tallies.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo was not in action for Juventus as Serie A is on its winter break.

Messi, though, played his first game of 2019 and took just 20 minutes to get on the scoresheet:

A typically wondrous goal from the five-time Ballon d'Or winner saw him evade the challenges of two Getafe defenders and the onrushing goalkeeper with one touch before slotting into an empty net.

It was Barca's opening goal at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, and Luis Suarez doubled the visitors' lead 19 minutes later for his 12th goal of the league season.

Despite Jaime Mata pulling one back, Barca were able to take all three points on Sunday to open up a five-point gap at the top of the table:

Barca will take some stopping as they look to win their second La Liga title on the bounce under manager Ernesto Valverde.

And with Messi scoring at a rate of one goal per game in the Spanish top flight it will take something special to prevent him from winning a sixth Golden Shoe.