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Sunday night's round of Serie A fixtures will mark the end of what has been an eventful 2019-20 football campaign for European football leagues. Despite a loss in their final outing, Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus lifted their ninth consecutive Serie A trophy at the Allianz Stadium, and the Portguese's second in two years.
In the same vein of Juve's domination in Italy, German champions Bayern Munich lifted their eighth consecutive Bundesliga title, while PSG did the same for the third time on the spin. Barcelona failed to achieve this feat as Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid dethroned the 2017/18 and 2018/19 winners.
Liverpool ended their 30-year wait for top-flight glory as Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool stormed to the Premier League trophy in record time. Their historic season saw them amass a staggering 99 points, just one shy of the record tally.
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Apart from stars playing for the title-winning squads, there have been several other players all across Europe who have impressed profoundly in the 2019-20 campaign. Here, we take a look at the top ten players who finished as the leading contenders for the European Golden Shoe this season.
Note: Goalscorers from Europe's top-five leagues will have their points doubled by a coefficient of two due to scoring in more difficult leagues, while the goals scored in lesser leagues will be multiplied by that of 1.5.
#10 Shon Weissman | Wolfsberger AC | 45 points
Wolfsberger's talismanic frontman Shon Weissman has enjoyed a stellar debut campaign in Austria. Having made a move to Maccabi Haifa after a string of loan spells, the Israeli forward could not have asked for a better start to life at his new club.
Wolfsberger's new number nine scored 30 goals in 31 games for his club and ended the season as the highest scorer of the Austrian Bundesliga. However, his overall point tally stands at 45, due to his goals being multiplied by a coefficient of 1.5.
The centre-forward also had seven assists to show for, and averaged a goal every 89 minutes for the Carinthia-based club. Should he repeat his achievements for a second consecutive season, it won't be long before a bigger club come calling for his services.
#9 Jean-Pierre Nsame | Young Boys | 45 points
Another player from one of Europe's relatively lower leagues, Jean-Pierre Nsame, has enjoyed a stellar season in Switzerland's top-flight. The two-time Cameroonian international has been a vital figure for Young Boys since his 2017 move, and has played an all-important role in his third year as well.
The 27-year-old scored 30 goals in 31 Super League games for league leaders Young Boys. Given that the team collectively scored 77 goals in the campaign, his tally is all the more impressive. However, Nsame's point tally is the same as that of Weissman, due to the 1.5 coefficient. The towering striker also had three assists to his name.
Although his feats on the European front have not been nearly as impressive, having scored two goals in 481 minutes in the Europa League, his domestic record is sublime. He averaged a goal every 48 minutes in the 2019/20 campaign.
#8 Romelu Lukaku | Inter Milan | 46 points
Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku hit the ground running with his new club after a superb individual campaign in Italy. The former Manchester United striker was pushed to the exit door in the wake of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's appointment at the helm of Old Trafford.
Under Antonio Conte, the Belgian scored a whopping 23 goals in his first season in Italy. Inter had a mixed bag of a season but ultimately finished just a point adrift of Juve's 83. Lukaku has established himself a key member of Conte's set-up, contributing heavily in the build-up phases apart from being clinical in the box.
The Belgian international also had two assists to go with his 23 goals and attempted just under three shots per game. His overall point tally stands at 46 due to the coefficient of two.
Also read: 10 Premier League signings that have failed to impress (2019-20)
#7 Jamie Vardy | Leicester City | 46 points
Leicester City's legendary striker Jamie Vardy looked all set to propel the Foxes to their second-ever UCL campaign after a stunning season at the King Power. The Englishman was on the brink of being a runaway leader for most goals until he hit a dry patch in 2020.
Vardy amassed 23 goals in 35 league games, and at 33, he became the oldest-ever Golden Boot winner in the Premier League era. The 2015/16 English champion also had five assists along with his 23 league goals for Leicester City, proving to be the catalyst for their top-four push.
Despite Leicester's eventual failure to break into the UCL spots, 2019/20 will go down as one of Vardy's best seasons in the top-flight. His goals, as per the point system, are worth 46 points in the race for the European Golden Shoe.
#6 Erling Haaland | RB Salzburg/Borussia Bortmund | 50 points
Erling Haaland introduced himself to the biggest clubs in Europe in emphatic fashion during the course of the 2019/20 campaign. He's played across two different top-flight leagues as his impressive performances earned him a winter move to Germany.
The Norwegian played 14 games (11 starts) for RB Salzburg in the T-Mobile Bundesliga and scored a stunning 16 goals in the process. Amidst the uncertainty of how he would adapt to a more competitive league in Germany, Haaland had a flying start in the Bundesliga as well. The 20-year-old scored 13 goals and set up a further two in 14 games for Dortmund.
His 16 Austrian league goals are worth 24 points, while his 13 Bundesliga goals are worth 26 — taking his tally to a total of 50 points. The Norwegian wonderkid is also the second-highest scorer in the UCL, just one shy of Robert Lewandowski's 11 goals.
#5 Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 50 points
Barcelona's imperious leader Lionel Messi, despite his club's woes in 2019/20, has had another spectacular season in LaLiga Santander. The Argentine was the driving force behind the Catalans' push for a third consecutive Spanish title. However, they ultimately surrendered a four-point lead at the top to Clasico rivals Real Madrid.
The 33-year-old made history by becoming the first-ever player in LaLiga history to score and assist a minimum of 20 goals in a league season. Messi finished the season with 25 goals and 21 assists in LaLiga, both of which were the highest figures recorded in the league during the 2019/20 campaign.
His 25 goals are worth a total of 50 points due to the coefficient of two. Despite this year seeing one of Messi's lowest goal returns in his professional career, his remarkable playmaking ability was on full display at the Nou Camp.
#4 Timo Werner | RB Leipzig | 56 points
Chelsea's latest €53m purchase Timo Werner has enjoyed a stellar few seasons at RB Leipzig. The German international has pivotal to their recent achievements and has been one of the most lethal forwards in his homeland. 2019/20 was no different, and in fact, it has been his most productive league season to date.
Werner scored a staggering 28 goals in 34 games for the Red Bull-powered club in the Bundesliga. Although he didn't win the Golden Boot in Germany, it is still seven more than what he scored in the 2016/17 season (21), his highest prior to this season. He also has eight assists to show for, and became the only Bundesliga player to score and assists a hat-trick of goals in the same game.
The new Chelsea attacker's point total stands at 56 points due to his 28 goals for RB Leipzig. Werner would hope to replicate his sublime form in London with Frank Lampard's side.
Also read: Top 10 U-21 English talents in football | Premier League 2019-20
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo | Juventus | 62 points
Juventus' Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo came under fire for his relatively poor vein of form in the opening ten games of the season which saw him score just five goals. However, from the back end of 2019 till the end of the campaign, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner showed his class with one incredible display after another.
Ronaldo ended the Serie A campaign with 31 goals in 33 games for the Bianconeri. Out of those 31, 21 came in 2020, en-route the former Real Madrid legend breaking a host of Serie A records. He became the quickest-ever player to reach 50 goals in Serie A, having achieved the feat in just 61 games. Ronaldo also became the highest-scoring Portuguese in Italy during the 2019/20 season.
The 35-year-old's 31 goals are worth a total of 62 points, which sees him rank third on this list. Ronaldo also had five assists to show for as he lifted his second Serie A title in as many years.
#2 Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | 68 points
Bayern Munich ace Robert Lewandowski has had a season for the record books in 2019/20. The Polish striker has always been known to be a serial goalscorer throughout his career, but this year, he's undisputedly had his best-ever club season, let alone that for Bayern Munich.
Lewandowski ended the Bundesliga season with a breathtaking 34 goals in 31 games, averaging more than one goal per game. Across all competitions, the Pole has recorded 52 goals for Bayern, along with eight assists — the best return Lewandowski has ever had in a season.
The 31-year-old has been in the form of his life for the Bavarian giants and helped them lift their eighth successive Bundesliga title. He would hope to fire Bayern to a historic treble after as they are in pole position to compete for European glory.
#1 Ciro Immobile | SS Lazio | 72 points
Since 2007/08, only two players not named Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo have won the European Golden Shoe — and they were Uruguayan icons Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan. Lazio's Ciro Immobile became the third addition to this illustrious list of incredible goalscorers in 2019/20 after a simply magical season with the capital club.
The Italian international scored an astonishing 36 goals in 37 league games for Lazio, firing them to a third-placed finish guaranteeing European football in the process. He also registered nine assists, taking his overall contribution in Serie A to 45 goals and assists in 37 league fixtures. The Italian's point tally stands at a staggering 72, winning him the European Golden Shoe.
Immobile broke a host of records en route this incredible achievement and levelled Gonzalo Higuain's league-high tally of 36 goals. The 30-year-old became the first Italian to win the European Golden Shoe since Francesco Totti in 2006-07.
Also read: Top 10 players in Europe this season according to ratings
