Golden Shoe 2018-19: Top Goalscorers in Europe, Latest Points Tally on April 22

Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe closed the gap to Barcelona's Lionel Messi in the race for the European Golden Shoe this weekend. 

Messi had a rare day without finding the net in La Liga, although his side were still able to earn a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad. Mbappe was in red-hot form on Sunday against former club Monaco, as his hat-trick helped the team to a 3-1 win and finally secured them the Ligue 1 title.

Mbappe's compatriot Karim Benzema produced another standout display this weekend, as his hat-trick against Athletic Bilbao pushed him up the Golden Shoe standings.

Here are the latest rankings with the season nearing an end and a reminder of some of the best individual goalscoring displays from the weekend's play.

Golden Shoe Standings

1. Lionel Messi, Barcelona: 33 x 2.0 difficulty factor = 66.0

2. Kylian Mbappe, Paris Saint-Germain: 30 x 2.0 = 54.0

3. Fabio Quagliarella, Sampdoria: 22 x 2.0 = 44.0

T4. Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich: 21 x 2.0 = 42.0

T4. Krzysztof Piatek, Genoa/AC Milan: 21 x 2.0 = 42.0

T4. Mbaye Diagne, Kasımpasa/Galatasaray: 28 x 1.5 = 42.0

T4. Karim Benzema, Real Madrid: 21 x 2.0 = 42.0

8. Luuk de Jong, PSV Eindhoven: 27 x 1.5 = 40.5

T9. Duvan Zapata, Atalanta: 20 x 2.0 = 40.0

T9. Luis Suarez, Barcelona: 20 x 2.0 = 40.0

Rules: UEFA has assigned a difficulty constant to every European league between one and two, which is multiplied by a player's goal tally to bring his points total.

For example, the Eredivisie has a rating of 1.5, so Luuk de Jong's goals for PSV are worth fewer points than Messi's in La Liga, which has a rating of two.

Weekend Recap

After their UEFA Champions League progression against Manchester United last Tuesday, it wasn't a huge surprise to see Barcelona were a little jaded on Saturday against Real Sociedad.

Messi had one of his quieter days in an outstanding campaign, with defenders Clement Lenglet and Jordi Alba on the scoresheet for the Blaugrana in their 2-1 success.

That gave Mbappe the chance to chop down gap on Sunday, and he duly obliged, punishing his former club with a tremendous hat-trick. The first goal was especially impressive, as the 20-year-old used his incredible speed to cap off a swift counter-attack:

PSG also secured the title before their match after Lille had drawn 0-0 with Toulouse. Mbappe has now won Ligue 1 three times in a row, twice with his current club and once with Monaco.

The goals at the Parc des Princes took Mbappe to 30 for the top-flight campaign too. As we can see, there aren't many players who have been able to accomplish such a feat at such an early age:

Mbappe was also quizzed on his future following the game amid some speculation about a summer exit although made it clear he would be staying at PSG for a while yet:

In an otherwise quiet weekend for some of European football's top marksmen, Benzema was able to move up the standings in the Golden Shoe race with a hat-trick against Athletic Bilbao.

For Madrid, so many star names have underwhelmed this season, and manager Zinedine Zidane will surely oversee some significant transfer activity at the end of the campaign. But Benzema has been the team's standout player in 2018-19, showing he still has a role to play at the highest level.

Here's the moment he completed his hat-trick:

The man himself posted the following after the game:

Elsewhere, PSV were able to keep pace with Ajax in the Eredivisie title race, as Luuk de Jong was on target in a 3-1 win over Den Haag.

Messi will have the chance to extend his lead on Tuesday when Barcelona visit Alaves in La Liga. Mbappe and PSG will next take to the field on Saturday against Rennes.