Leo Messi wins European Golden Shoe

Another day, another reason to congratulate the phenomenal Leo Messi. The Barcelona forward has been named winner of the ESM Golden Shoe for his staggering record tally of 50 league goals in 2011-12.

Messi finished four goals clear of last year's winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, to claim the second ESM Golden Shoe award of his career. Messi appeared in all but one of Barcelona's 38 league games this season, scoring six hat-tricks and notching two four-goal hauls. The Argentinian, who previously won the Golden Shoe in 2009/10 with 34 goals, has scored a remarkable 72 goals in all competitions this season.

Despite scoring six more goals than his winning tally of 40 last season, Real Madrid's Ronaldo has had to settle for 2nd place. And to round off a top three of Icons, Arsenal's Robin van Persie came in at 3rd with 30 goals. Manchester United Icon Wayne Rooney, meanwhile, finished 6th with his 27 strikes.

ESM Golden Shoe standings

1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 50 x 2 = 100
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 46 x 2 = 92
3. Robin van Persie (Arsenal) 30 x 2 = 60
4. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke) 29 x 2 = 58
5. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) 28 x 2 = 56
6. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 27 x 2 = 54
7. Mario Gomez (Bayern München) 26 x 2 = 52
8. Bas Dost (Heerenveen) 32 x 1.5 = 48
8= Falcao (Atletico Madrid) 24 x 2 = 48
8= Diego Milito (Inter Milan) 24 x 2 = 48
8= Burak Yilmaz (Trabzonspor) 32 x 1.5 = 48

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.

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