European Golden Shoe: Mbappe extends lead over Ronaldo; closes gap to Messi
What’s the story?
Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe is proving to be tough competition to both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the European Golden Shoe race.
In case you didn’t know…
The young Frenchman has been in imperious form this season and is currently the top scorer in Ligue 1. Just like Mbappe, Ronaldo and Messi are also the leading scorers in their respective leagues.
The Portuguese is enjoying a good campaign with Juventus, where he has netted an impressive 19 goals in the Serie A. Messi, on the other hand, is the top scorer in LaLiga with 25 goals this season.
All three players are gunning for the 2018-19 European Golden Shoe award, having pulled clear of other rivals. While Mbappe is yet to win the coveted award in his career, Ronaldo has won it thrice and Messi five times.
The heart of the matter
Over the weekend, all three players were in action but only Mbappe was on the scoresheet in the domestic league. The 20-year-old scored two goals as PSG defeated Caen 2-1 away from home. His latest double takes his league tally to 24 for the season.
Before this weekend, Messi was on 25 league goals, but failed to add to his tally when Barcelona beat Real Madrid 1-0 on Saturday – Ivan Rakitic scored the only goal of the game.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo also drew a blank when Juventus faced Napoli on Sunday. Although Max Allegri’s side won 2-1, the Portuguese could not get on the scoresheet.
This means Mbappe has now overtaken Ronaldo (19 goals) and is just one goal behind Messi (25 goals) in the race for the European Golden Shoe.
What’s next?
Mbappe will be in action in midweek when PSG welcomes Manchester United to Paris in the Champions League, while Ronaldo and Messi are not involved in any action until the weekend when Juventus and Barcelona face Udinese and Girona, respectively.