Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo was back among the goals on Sunday, scoring two penalties in Real Madrid’s 4-1 win over Athletic Bilbao. Those goals took the forward level at the top of the ESM Golden Shoe rankings with longstanding leader, Aleksandrs Čekulajevs.

Hot on Ronaldo’s heels is Lionel Messi who followed up last week’s brace with a stunning hat-trick in Barcelona’s 4-1 win away at Malaga. Considering Messi also has 16 assistant in the league this season, his goal tally of 22 is a remarkable total.

Meanwhile, Arsenal’s Robin van Persie continued his impressive strike rate, scoring Arsenal’s goal in the  London side’s 2-1 home defeat to Manchester United.

POS PLAYER TEAM GOALS FACTOR PTS
1 Aleksandrs Cekulajevs (Trans Narva) 46 x 1 = 46
1= Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 23 x 2 = 46
3 Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 22 x 2 = 44
4 Robin van Persie (Arsenal) 19 x 2 = 38
5 Seydou Doumbia (CSKA Moscow) 24 x 1.5 = 36
6 Burak Yilmaz (Trabzonspor) 22 x 1.5 = 33
7 Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich) 16 x 2 = 32
8= Demba Ba (Newcastle United) 15 x 2 = 30
8= Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke 04) 15 x 2 = 30
10= Sergio ‘Kun’ Agüero (Manchester City) 14 x 2 = 28
10= Radamel Falcao (Atlético Madrid) 14 x 2 = 28
10= Olivier Giroud (Montpellier) 14 x 2 = 28
10= Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) 14 x 2 = 28
10.= Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Calcio Milan) 14 x 2 = 28
10= Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund) 14 x 2 = 28
10= Antonio Di Natale (Udinese Calcio) 14 x 2 = 28
10= Lukas Podolski (Cologne) 14 x 2 = 28
18= David Lafata (FK Jablonec) 18 x 1.5 = 27
18= Artjoms Rudnevs (Lech Poznán) 18 x 1.5 = 27
20 Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 13 x 2 = 26
21= Mostafa Abdellaoue (Tromsö) 17 x 1.5 = 25,5
21= Jérémy Perbet (Mons) 17 x 1.5 = 25.5
23= Ole Martin Arst (IK Start Kristiansand) 16 x 1.5 = 24
23= Gérman Gustavo Denis (Atalanta) 12 x 2 = 24
23= Bas Dost (Heerenveen) 16 x 2 = 24
23= Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Zenit St.Petersburg) 16 x 1,5 = 24
23= Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen) 12 x 2 = 24
23= Rade Prica (Rosenborg) 16 x 1.5 = 24
23= Roberto Soldado (Valencia) 12 x 2 = 24
23= Aiyegbeni Yakubu (Blackburn Rovers) 12 x 2 = 24

* Standings last updated 16/01/2012
**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.