Who will win Golden Shoe? Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe in contention
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah all in top 10 of standings
Sunday 19 May 2019 21:54, UK
Leagues around Europe are drawing to a close and the winner of the Golden Shoe will be decided shortly.
The award is presented to the top scorer in league matches among the top divisions of every European league and has been won by Barcelona's Lionel Messi for the last two years.
Here's all you need to know about the 2018/19 award, including whether Messi is set to make it three in a row…
How does the award work and who is in contention?
The Golden Shoe uses a points system that means goals scored in "tougher" leagues count for more than goals scored in other leagues.
Goals scored in the top five leagues according to the UEFA coefficients list (currently Spain, England, Italy, Germany and France) are multiplied by a factor of two.
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Goals scored in the leagues ranked six to 21 (which includes Portugal, Turkey and the Netherlands) are multiplied by a factor of 1.5, and goals scored in leagues ranked 22 and below are multiplied by a factor of one.
Messi currently leads the standings with 36 goals (72 points).
Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe is second with 30 goals (60 points) and Sampdoria striker Fabio Quagliarella is third with 26 goals (52 points).
Galatasaray striker Mbaye Diagne is a surprise entrant in fourth place with 30 goals (45 points) this season.
There are then five players level on 22 goals and 44 points.
They are Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski and Atalanta's Duvan Zapata, along with the three winners of the Premier League Golden Boot - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.
Can anyone overtake Messi?
Messi will be looking to secure the award for a sixth time and he is also set to win the Pichichi Trophy for the top scorer in La Liga as he leads by 15 goals from Luis Suarez and Karim Benzema.
Mbappe's efforts to win the Golden Shoe have been hampered after he received a three-game ban after his red card in the Coupe de France final.
He has served the suspension and will be available for PSG's final two games of the season, which are against relegation-threatened Dijon on Saturday and then mid-table Reims on the final day.
Quagliarella also has two games to catch Messi, although he would need a remarkable finish in Sampdoria's final matches against Chievo and Juventus.
Where does Ronaldo rank?
Cristiano Ronaldo is the closest challenger to Messi's overall tally of five Golden Shoe awards. The Juventus forward has won the award four times, with nobody else having won it more than twice.
However, Ronaldo, who last won the award in 2014/15, is currently level with seven other players on 21 goals (42 points).
He has scored in two of his last four matches for Juventus and has the chance to move up in their final game against Sampdoria.
Manchester City's Sergio Aguero is also on 21 goals along with Ajax's Dusan Tadic and Barcelona's Suarez.
