Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suárez to fight it out for the Golden Shoe
The Real Madrid forward's lead over the ex-Liverpool man has been cut to just two points following the Uruguayan’s awakening in front of goal against Deportivo.
European football’s top goalscorers are approaching the final straight in their race to claim the coveted Golden Shoe award and things couldn’t be more neck-and-neck.
Cristiano Ronaldo sits top of the table alongside ex-Valencia player Jonas, who has been tearing opponents to pieces ever since joining Benfica, with both men boasting tallies of 31 league goals (62 points). Hot in pursuit of them on 60 points are Luis Suárez and Napoli hitman Gonzalo Higuaín, while trailing behind in fifth, with quite a lot of ground to make up in short period of time, is Bayern Munich’s Polish assassin, Robert Lewandowski, who has racked up 27 goals (54 points).
With Ronaldo out of the Real Madrid squad travelling across town to face Rayo on Saturday, the 31-year-old could be knocked off his perch over the next few days. The Portuguese will be shaking in his boots ahead of Barça’s match against Sporting, on the back of Luis Suárez’s exploits at Riazor midweek. And that’s without mentioning the fact that Jonas, Higuaín (expected to rejoin the starting line-up after his four-game suspension), and Lewandowski are also all in action over the weekend.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (48 points) has hit the target on 32 occasions for PSG this season. However, because Ligue 1 has a lower coefficient than LaLiga, Serie A or the Bundesliga, each of the Swede’s goals is rewarded with 1.5 points and not 2, like his aforementioned counterparts in the running.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suárez shared the prize at the end of the 2013/14 season. In his last year playing for Liverpool, the Uruguayan notched 31 goals. A miraculous feat given he had to serve a five-match ban at the beginning of the Premier League campaign.
Elsewhere, in the Spanish top flight, the Madeira native also found the back of the net 31 times. The Real Madrid super star missed five games through injury and three through suspension, and was subbed off early in a further four encounters.