Golden Shoe 2018-19: Top Goalscorers in Europe, Updated Points Table on April 1
Barcelona's Lionel Messi took another step toward his sixth European Golden Shoe on Saturday as he bagged a brace against Espanyol in the Catalan derby.
His only realistic rival for the award remains Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe, who continued his bid with his 27th Ligue 1 goal of the campaign.
Behind them, Sergio Aguero, Robert Lewandowski and Duvan Zapata each moved onto 19 league goals for the season in the Premier League, Bundesliga and Serie A, respectively.
Here are the standings as of April 1:
1. Lionel Messi, Barcelona: 31 x 2.0 difficulty factor = 62.0
2. Kylian Mbappe, Paris Saint-Germain: 27 x 2.0 = 54.0
3. Fabio Quagliarella, Sampdoria: 21 x 2.0 = 42.0
T4. Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus: 19 x 2.0 = 38.0
T4. Krzysztof Piatek, Genoa/AC Milan: 19 x 2.0 = 38.0
T4. Sergio Aguero, Manchester City: 19 x 2.0 = 38.0
T4. Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich: 19 x 2.0 = 38.0
T4. Duvan Zapata, Atalanta: 19 x 2.0 = 38.0
T9. Robert Skov, FC Copenhagen: 24 x 1.5 = 36.0
T9. Luis Suarez, Barcelona: 18 x 2.0 = 36.0
Rules: Every European league has been assigned a difficulty factor between one and two by UEFA, which is multiplied by a player's goal tally to calculate his points total.
For example, Europe's top five leagues have a maximum factor of two, so goals in those leagues are worth two points each. The Danish Superliga has a factor of 1.5, so Robert Skov's goals are worth fewer points.
As he has on so many occasions this season and throughout his career, Messi made the difference for Barcelona on Saturday when they hosted local rivals Espanyol at the Camp Nou.
The Argentinian broke the deadlock with a free-kick—which midfielder Victor Sanchez tried and failed to keep out with his head—in the 71st minute, before sealing the win in the 89th when he tucked home Malcom's cross after a rapid counter-attack.
The goals marked yet another milestone in Messi's astonishing career:
It's a testament to Mbappe that the Barcelona man doesn't quite have the Golden Shoe sewn up already.
In just his 24th Ligue 1 appearance of the campaign, he scored the only goal as PSG beat Toulouse 1-0 when he controlled Thilo Kehrer's cross and picked out the bottom corner in the 74th minute.
The Parisians have been without Neymar since January, but the 20-year-old has made up for the Brazilian's absence:
Lewandowski's goal for Bayern Munich wasn't enough to secure them three points as they drew 1-1 with Freiburg, handing the initiative back to Borussia Dortmund in the title race.
Manchester City kept pace with Liverpool in their title tussle, though, thanks in no small part to Aguero, who teed up Bernardo Silva before beating Sergio Rico himself in Manchester City's 2-0 win at Fulham.
The striker is in fine company on the Premier League's all-time scorers list:
Meanwhile, Zapata's late brace in Atalanta's 3-1 win over Parma has given him a chance of finishing the season as Serie A's top scorer.
After Mario Pasalic atoned for his early error that allowed Gervinho to steal in for Parma's opener, a pair of close-range finishes from Zapata in the 75th and 94th minutes put him level with Cristiano Ronaldo and two behind Fabio Quagliarella.
