Messi or Mbappe to win? Here are top 10 scorers in the Golden Shoe ranking

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi leads the way for the European Golden Shoe this season with 36 league goals while four-time winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, finds himself thirteen goals behind with 21.

Messi look set to win the award for the sixth time in his astonishing career. His 36 goals put him on 72 points. However, Messi will not break his and the Golden Shoe record of 50 league goals, which he managed in the 2011/12 season.

In second and the likeliest challenger is 20-year-old World Cup winner, Kylian Mbappe, who is four goals behind with Paris Saint-Germain facing Reims in their final Ligue 1 fixture.

But how does the competition work?

The leagues are divided into different categories based on the difficulty of the competition. The Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 are ranked level 2, while the remaining European Leagues are worth 1.5.

The player’s goal stally is then either doubled or multiplied by 1.5.

Here, Sportsmail takes a look at the 10 forwards leading the race for this year's Golden Shoe…

1) LIONEL MESSI (Goals: 36, Points: 72)

Messi’s 34 league goals have helped Barcelona land their 26th La Liga title, with a Copa del Rey Final still to come up against Valencia. Barca have finished their league campaign away at Eibar with Messi scoring 2 goals.

2) KYLIAN MBAPPE (Goals 32, Points: 64)

Mbappe has proved himself yet again this season with another 32 goals to add to his career tally. He has one game left to try and pip Messi to the trophy, against Reims on away match.

3) FABIO QUAGLIARELLA (Goals 26, Points 52)

The 36-year-old has proved the critics wrong and is currently outscoring Cristiano Ronaldo in this season’s Serie A with 26 goals. He still has one games left against champions Juventus.

4) MBAYE DIAGNE (Goals 30, Points 45)

The Senegalese striker has two games left in the Super Lig with a title on the line against second-placed Istanbul Basaksehir and Sivasspor. He may be out of the running for the award, but he has been one of Europe’s star players.

5) ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI (Goals 22, Points 44)

There's no more game to go for the Bundesliga’s top scorer with Bayern Munich. Lewandowski will not be in the running for the Golden Shoe.

6) DUVAN ZAPATA (Goals 22, Points 44)

The West Ham and Chelsea target has been pivotal in Atalanta’s league campaign, leading the club into their last games against Sassuolo with a Champions League spot for grabs. It will be the first time they have qualified for Europe’s top competition.

7) PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG (Goals 22, Points 44)

His first full season in the Premier League has been a success personally for the Gabon international. However, he will not challenge Messi or Mbappe for the trophy.

8) SADIO MANE (Goals 22, Points 44)

The 2018/19 league campaign has been Mane’s best goal scoring season in his career, a fine campaign that ended with two goals against Wolves as Liverpool just missed out on the Premier League title.

9) MOHAMED SALAH (Goals 22, Points 44)

It was always going to be hard for Salah to repeat his record-breaking season from 2017/18 but the Egyptian has still enjoyed a successful individual campaign for Liverpool, who now set their sights on the Champions League final on June 1.

10) DUSAN TADIC (Goals 28, Points 42)

After leaving Southampton last summer he has had his best season in front of goal, playing in a false nine position for Ajax and winning the Eredivisie and KNVB Cup.