Ronaldo favourite to win European Golden Shoe for fourth time

Entering the finishing stretch of the season, the Real Madrid star's 42 goals in La Liga put him just in front of the Barcelona talisman in the official ranking for Europe's top goalscorers.

The leaderboard takes into account only goals scored in domestic leagues, with the total multiplied by a factor of either 2 or 1.5 based on the strength of that league according to the UEFA Coefficient.

So, with La Liga deemed one of Europe's strongest leagues - and therefore theoretically harder to score in - Ronaldo has a total of 84, four ahead of 40-goal Messi.

If he holds on to this advantage in the remaining two rounds of fixtures, Ronaldo will win the Golden Shoe for the fourth time.

He previously won it when at Manchester United in 2007-08, claimed it outright while at Real Madrid in 2010-11 and shared it with Liverpool's Luis Suarez last season.

Messi has previously claimed the prestigious award in 2009-10, 2011-12 and 2012-13.

The pair are some distance ahead of the other contenders, with Manchester City's Sergio Aguero in third. His 25 Premier League goals result in a score of 50.

Barcelona's Neymar is in joint-fourth with Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann, followed by 29-goal Jonathan Soriano of Red Bull Salzburg.

Because the Austrian league is deemed weaker, Soriano's tally of 29 goals is multiplied by a factor of 1.5.

Tottenham's Harry Kane is ninth on the list with a score of 40, while Chelsea's Diego Costa comes in 12th with 38 points.

(dailystar.co.uk)