Golden Shoe 2018-19: Top Goalscorers in Europe, Latest Standings on May 20
Lionel Messi signed off La Liga's 2018-19 season with a brace for Barcelona on Sunday, maintaining his eight-point gap over Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe in the race for the Golden Shoe in the process.ย
Messi scored twice in the space of a minute as Barca drew 2-2 with Eibar.
The day before, Mbappe bagged two goals in a 4-0 win for PSG against Dijon on his return from a three-match suspension.
Here are the standings on May 20:
1.ย Lionel Messi, Barcelona: 36 x 2.0ย difficulty factorย = 72.0
2. Kylian Mbappe, Paris Saint-Germain: 32 x 2.0 = 64.0
3.ย Fabio Quagliarella,ย Sampdoria: 26 x 2.0 = 52.0
4.ย Mbaye Diagne,ย Kasฤฑmpasa/Galatasaray: 30 x 1.5 = 45.0
T5. Mohamed Salah, Liverpool: 22 x 2.0 = 44.0
T5. Sadio Mane, Liverpool: 22 x 2.0 = 44.0
T5. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal:ย 22 x 2.0 = 44.0
T5. Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich: 22 x 2.0 = 44.0
T5. Duvan Zapata,ย Atalanta: 22 x 2.0 = 44.0
T5. Krzysztof Piatek, Genoa/AC Milan:ย 22 x 2.0 = 44.0
T5. Nicolas Pepe, Lille:ย 22 x 2.0 = 44.0
Rules: Every European League has been assigned a difficulty rating by UEFA between one and two. The rating is multiplied by each player's goal tally to calculate their points total.
For example, goals in Europe's top five leagues are worth two points each, as that is the difficulty rating of those leagues. Mbaye Diagne's goals are worth 1.5 points each, as that is the Turkish Super Lig's rating.
With Barca often saving him for the UEFA Champions League, Messi had only scored three times in La Liga since the start of April.ย
Though Barcelona weren't able to get a victory on Sunday, he finished their league campaign in style.
The Argentinianย finished from a tight angle after being slipped in by Arturo Vidal in the 31st minute, and a minute later he chipped goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic after latching onto an Ivan Rakitic through ball.
Messi ended the season as La Liga's top scorer:
His nearest rivals were team-mate Luis Suarez and Real Madrid's Karim Benzema, who managed 21 goals apiece.
Tom Allnutt of the Agence France-Presse sharedย how his tally compared with previous seasons:
Mbappe had reduced the gap to Messi on Saturday with goals either side of half-time.
After Angel Di Maria and Edinson Cavani had fired PSG in front early, Mbappeย struck home from point-blank range after Cavani's attempt to convert a Neymar cross struck Wesley Lautoa.
The Frenchman's second effortย was similar to Messi's second, with Leandro Paredes providing the delivery and Runar Alex Runarsson powerless to stop the ball going in the net.
Mbappe subsequently cleaned up at Ligue 1's end of season awards ceremony on Sunday:
PSG still have one Ligue 1 fixture remaining this season, as they take on Stade Reims on Friday.
Mbappe will need to score four times to pull level with Messi, though, and PSG are one of just three teams to boast a better defensive record in the French top flight than Reims this season.
