Lionel Messi limped off the pitch after suffering a recurrence of a hamstring injury in the 2-1 win against Atletico Madrid.

The knock could well spell the end of Messi’s 2012-13 campaign, meaning he would complete this season with 46 league goals – just four short of matching last season’s record-breaking tally. It also means that the Argentinian is virtually guaranteed to win yet another Golden Shoe, thus becoming the first man to win the award three times.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi’s closest rival at the top of the ESM Golden Shoe standings, was rested at the weekend ahead of Friday’s Spanish Cup final, while third placed Radamel Falcao did get on the scoresheet in Atletico Madrid’s 2-1 home defeat to Barcelona.

Elsewhere in the top ten, the only other player to get on the scoresheet was FK Austria’s Philipp Hosiner

POS PLAYER TEAM GOALS FACTOR PTS

1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 45 x 2 = 90
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 34 x 2 = 68
3. Radamel Falcao (Atlético Madrid) 28 x 2 = 56
Edinson Cavani (Napoli) 28 x 2 = 56
5. Robin van Persie (Manchester United) 25 x 2 = 50
Jackson Martinez (FC Porto) 25 x 2 = 50
7. Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen) 24 x 2 = 48
8. Wilfried Bony (Vitesse) 31 x 1.5 = 46.5
Philipp Hosiner (FK Austria) 31 x 1.5 = 46.5
10. Luis Suarez (Liverpool) 23 x 2 = 46
Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund) 23 x 2 = 46
12. Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) 22 x 2 = 44
13. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain) 27 x 1.5 = 40.5
Graziano Pellè (Feyenoord) 27 x 1.5 = 40.5
15. Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) 20 x 2 = 40
Roberto Soldado (Valencia) 20 x 2 = 40
Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla) 20 x 2 = 40
18. Jonathan Soriano (Salzburg) 26 x 1.5 = 39
Michael Higdon (Motherwell) 26 x 1.5 = 39
20. Christian Benteke (Aston Villa) 19 x 2 = 38
21. Miguel Perez Cuesta ‘Michu’ (Swansea City) 18 x 2 = 36
Rodrigo Lima (Benfica) 18 x 2 = 36
Alfred Finnbogason (sc Heerenveen) 24 x 1.5 = 36
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Shakhtar Donetsk) 24 x 1.5 = 36
25. Arturas Rimkevicius (FK Siauliai) 35 x 1 = 35
26. Jozy Altidore (AZ) 23 x 1.5 = 34.5
Burak Yilmaz (Galatasaray) 23 x 1.5 = 34.5
Billy McKay (Iverness Caledonian Thistle) 23 x 1.5 = 34.5
Leigh Griffiths (Hibernian) 23 x 1.5 = 34.5
30. Ruben Castro (Real Betis) 17 x 2 = 34
31. Eliran Atar (Maccabi Tel Aviv) 22 x 1.5 = 33
      Carlos Bacca (Club Brugge) 22 x 1.5 = 33
33. Daniel Osvaldo (Roma) 16 x 2 = 32
Stephan El Shaarawy (Milan) 16 x 2 = 32
Oscar Cardozo (Benfica) 16 x 2 = 32
36. Rafik Djebbour (Olympiakos) 20 x 1.5 = 30
Frank Lampard (Chelsea) 15 x 2 = 30
Demba Ba (Newcastle United/Chelsea FC) 15 x 2 = 30
Francisco Medina Luna ‘Piti’ (Rayo Vallecano) 15 x 2 = 30
Mario Mandzukic (Bayern Munich) 15 x 2 = 30
Vedad Ibisevic (Stuttgart) 15 x 2 = 30
Alexander Meier (Eintracht Frankfurt) 15 x 2 = 30
German Denis (Atalanta) 15 x 2 = 30
Miroslav Klose (Lazio) 15 x 2 = 30
Giampaolo Pazzini (Milan) 15 x 2 = 30
Erik Lamela (Roma) 15 x 2 = 30
Ezequiel Scarione (St. Gallen) 20 x 1.5 = 30
Niall McGinn (Aberdeen) 20 x 1.5 = 30
Raul Rusescu (Steaua) 20 x 1.5 = 30
David Lafata (Sparta Prague) 20 x 1,5 = 30
51. Liam Boyce (Cliftonville) 29 x 1 = 29
52. Gary Hooper (Celtic) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
Kala Uche (Kasimpasa) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Saint-Etienne) 19 x 1.5 = 28.5
** Standings last updated 12/05/2013

*** Rules

Only the leading four countries – Spain, Italy, Germany, 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.