Record-breaking Ronaldo wins 2010/11 Golden Shoe

ESM Golden Shoe winner Cristiano Ronaldo paid tribute to his Real Madrid CF team-mates and supporters after taking his Liga goals tally to an unprecedented 40.

The Portugal forward scored twice in Saturday's 8-1 victory over UD Almería to eclipse the record for goals in a single Liga season, previously held by Athletic Club's Telmo Zarra (1950/51) and Madrid's Hugo Sánchez (1989/90). "Without the help of my team-mates it wouldn't have been possible," said the 26-year-old. "I dedicate my Pichichi award to them and to the fans.

"We are thrilled to finish the season on 102 goals [seven more than FC Barcelona]. José Mourinho wanted a prolific end to the campaign so we can start next season on the right track. We have done just that." Ronaldo was as responsible as anyone for the late surge, 11 goals in the last four games also converting a two-goal deficit to Barcelona rival Lionel Messi in the Golden Shoe rankings to a massive nine-goal winning margin.

"Repeating these figures will be very difficult but nothing is impossible and I'm going to continue to work hard to achieve it," said Ronaldo, whose previous high was 31 for Manchester United FC in 2007/08. His 40 goals came from just 34 Liga appearances, taking his tally to 66 in 63 since joining the Merengues in summer 2009.

Messi failed to find the net for the fourth week running but Moussa Sow was on target as LOSC Lille Métropole sealed the Ligue 1 title. The French top flight has one round of fixtures to go but there are unlikely to be any wholesale changes to the top ten, Carlos Tévez and Alex sealing the places among the elite over the weekend. Alex followed up last week's five-goal blitz with another as Fenerbahçe SK claimed the Turkish title.

ESM Golden Shoe standings: 23 May
1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid CF) 40 x 2 = 80
2 Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 31 x 2 = 62
3 Antonio Di Natale (Udinese Calcio) 28 x 2 = 56
Mario Gomez (FC Bayern München) 28 x 2 = 56
5 Edinson Cavani (SSC Napoli) 26 x 2 = 52
6 Papiss Cissé (SC Freiburg) 22 x 2 = 44
Moussa Sow (LOSC Lille Métropole)  22 x 2 = 44
8 Alex (Fenerbahçe SK) 28 x 1.5 = 42
Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United FC) 21 x 2 = 42
Samuel Eto'o (FC Internazionale Milano) 21 x 2 = 42
Kévin Gameiro (FC Lorient) 21 x 2 = 42
Carlos Tévez (Manchester City FC) 21 x 2 = 42

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.