Bayern Munich: Robert Lewandowski leading race for European Golden Boot
By Daniel Garza
Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski remains in the top spot in the race for the European Golden Shoe award. The Pole had another productive weekend as he scored a brace against FC Koln. His 28 Bundesliga goals have given him a healthy lead in the standings.
Currently, fellow star players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo trail Lewandowski by nine goals. After finishing in second place for the 2019/20 season standings, it looks like it will be Lewandowksi’s race to lose in the 2020/21 edition.
A commanding lead
Lewandowksi’s goals against FC Koln on Matchday 23 put him further ahead of the current second-place player Kasper Junker. Junker, who plays in the Norwegian top flight, had scored 27 goals for FK Bodø/Glimt during the 2020 season. However, due to the coefficient rule, Lewandowksi has been ahead of Junker for some time now as the Bundesliga has been given a coefficient of two.
All of Europe’s top five leagues receive a coefficient of two. This means that Lewandowski’s goal total is multiplied by two to give him a total of 56 points. The point system is used to determine the winner of the award and Junker played in a league that has a coefficient of one and a half.
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For this reason, Junker should soon be passed for second place by one of the other players in the top divisions. Messi and Ronaldo appear to be Lewandowski’s main competitors for the Golden Shoe as they both have scored 19 goals in their respective domestic league seasons. These two players combined have won seven of the last 10 Golden Shoe awards.
Eintracht Frankfurt’s Andre Silva is also a contender having scored 19 goals in the Bundesliga this season. Aside from these three players at 19 goals each, Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku are both in close proximity at 18 goals each.
The first Golden Shoe of Lewandowski’s career
So far the Golden Shoe has yet to be won by Lewandowski. Last season appeared to be his season to claim the title but Lazio’s Ciro Immobile produced an incredible 36 goals in the 2019/20 Serie A campaign. This time around, based on the current standings, it’s very unlikely that any player will be able to better Lewandowski’s goal-scoring record.
The Polish striker continues to score at an incredible rate in the German top flight as he chases the Bundesliga single-season goal-scoring record. More goals are certainly going to come from Bayern’s star player and time is running out for the other contenders to close the gap.
Next. Player ratings from Bayern's convincing win against Koln. dark
If Lewandowski reaches the 40 goal mark this season he will be the first player in a top European league to do so since the 2015/16 season when Luis Suarez scored 40 goals in La Liga. It’s shaping up to be a historic season for Lewandowski and the Golden Shoe will be yet another accomplishment achieved by the 32-year-old.