Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi continue their own personal duel at the top of the ESM Golden Shoe rankings.

Both forwards were on target again at the weekend to take their total for the season to 37 and 36 respectively. Those tallies place the pair on course to smash the record for the most goals in a Spanish season – set last season by Ronaldo when he scored 40.

Ronaldo scored twice in Madrid’s hugely impressive  5-1 victory at Osasuna. Messi, meanwhile, scored the from the penalty spot in Barcelona’s 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao – that’s an incredible 56  in all competitions this season for the Argentinian.

Elsewhere in the top ten, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for Schalke scored to take his total to 23 for the season, level with Bayern Munich’s Mario Gomez. Atletico Madrid’s Falcao has been on a terrific run of form in recent weeks and his goal in the 3-0 win over Getafe on Sunday, the 20th of an impressive debut season in Spain, sees the Colombian crack the top ten for the first time.

POS PLAYER TEAM GOALS FACTOR PTS
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 37 x 2 = 74
2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 36 x 2 = 72
3. Robin van Persie (Arsenal) 26 x 2 = 52
4. Burak Yilmaz (Trabzonspor) 32 x 1.5 = 48
5. Aleksandrs Cekulajevs (Trans Narva) 46 x 1 = 46
Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich) 23 x 2 = 46
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke) 23 x 2 = 46
8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Milan) 22 x 2 = 44
9. Seydou Doumbia (CSKA Moscow) 27 x 1.5 = 40.5
10. Radamel Falcao (Atlético Madrid) 20 x 2 = 40
Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) 20 x 2 = 40
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 20 x 2 = 40
13. Edinson Cavani (Napoli) 19 x 2 = 38
Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) 19 x 2 = 38
15. Bas Dost (Heerenveen) 25 x 1.5 = 37.5
16. Olivier Giroud (Montpellier) 18 x 2 = 36
17. Sergio ‘Kun’ Agüero (Manchester City) 17 x 2 = 34
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 17 x 2 = 34
Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund) 17 x 2 = 34
Diego Milito (Internazionale) 17 x 2 = 34
Lukas Podolski (Cologne) 17 x 2 = 34
22. Jérémy Perbet (Mons) 22 x 1.5 = 33
23. Demba Ba (Newcastle United) 16 x 2 = 32
Papiss Demba Cissé (Freiburg/Newcastle United) 16 x 2 = 32
Rodrigo Palacio (Genoa CFC16 x 2 = 32
Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen) 16 x 2 = 32
Roberto Soldado (Valencia) 16 x 2 = 32
28. Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Zenit St.Petersburg) 21 x 1.5 = 31.5
David Lafata (FK Jablonec) 21 x 1.5 = 31.5
Sanharib Malki (Roda Kerkrade) 21 x 1.5 = 31.5
31. Gérman Gustavo Denis (Atalanta) 15 x 2 = 30
Luuk de Jong (FC Twente) 20 x 1.5 = 30
Marco Reus (Borussia Mönchengladbach) 15 x 2 = 30
Artjoms Rudnevs (Lech Poznán) 20 x 1.5 = 30
35. John Guidetti (Feyenoord) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
Rodrigo José ‘Lima’ dos Santos (Sporting Braga) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
Kevin Mirallas (Olympiakos) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
38. Eden Hazard (Lille) 14 x 2 = 28
Martin Harnik (Stuttgart) 14 x 2 = 28
Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao) 14 x 2 = 28
Aiyegbeni Yakubu (Blackburn Rovers) 14 x 2 = 28

* Standings last updated 02/04/2012

**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.