Messi edges ahead in scoring duel with Ronaldo

The two-horse race for the ESM Golden Shoe took another twist over the weekend as Lionel Messi struck twice to leapfrog Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the standings.

Ronaldo endured a frustrating evening on Sunday as his Real Madrid CF side were held to a goalless draw by Valencia CF. That followed FC Barclona's 4-1 victory at Real Zaragoza, where Messi hit his 59th and 60th goals of the season in all competitions. With 38 in the Liga, he is now one goal clear of Ronaldo and – like the Spanish title race – the duo's scoring duel looks to be going down to the wire.

Elsewhere, Mario Gomez got both FC Bayern München's goals in their win at FC Augsburg to move into fourth on his own in the table of Europe's top scorers. He is two points clear of his nearest Bundesliga rival, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who was on target again for FC Schalke 04, while there were also goals for Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimović over the weekend.

ESM Golden Shoe standing: 9 April 2012

1. Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 38 x 2 = 76
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid CF) 37 x 2 = 74
3. Robin van Persie (Arsenal FC) 26 x 2 = 52
4. Mario Gomez (FC Bayern München) 25 x 2 = 50
5= Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (FC Schalke 04) 24 x 2 = 48
5= Burak Yılmaz (Trabzonspor AŞ) 32 x 1.5 = 48
7= Aleksandrs Čekulajevs (JK Trans Narva*) 46 x 1 = 46
7= Zlatan Ibrahimović (AC Milan) 23 x 2 = 46
9. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United FC) 21 x 2 = 42
10. Seydou Doumbia (PFC CSKA Moscow) 27 x 1.5 = 40.5

*Čekulajevs moved to Valletta FC after the 2011 Estonian season.

Rules
Only the leading five countries – Spain, Italy, Germany, France and England – in the UEFA rankings have two as their multiplier. This is to emphasise the difference in (international) performance level between clubs from those countries and those of other nations.

A player cannot play first in a summer league (e.g. Norway) and then in a winter league (e.g. Spain) and combine the points totals for each season.