Golden Shoe race: Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski well clear of Messi, Ronaldo, and Mbappe (Updated)

The European Golden Shoe is a hard trophy to win for Bundesliga strikers, mainly because the league has four fewer games each season. This year however, Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski is on the cusp of beating players like Leo Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Kylian Mbappe for that elusive trophy.

With most leagues slowly coming to and end, Lewandowski leads his closest competitor by 11 goals. Here’s a quick overview of the standings, provided by @iMiaSanMia on Twitter:

What’s the probability of Lewandowski winning it from here? Well, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 both have two matchdays left, while La Liga and Serie A each have three remaining. It’s unlikely that Haaland, Mbappe, or Ronaldo can make up the gap to Lewandowski in the time they have left, so that leaves Messi as the Polish hitman’s main competitor.

Unfortunately, Messi is such a freak of nature that he could actually pull it off. Barcelona’s remaining fixtures include a game against 14th placed Levante and 20th placed Eibar. You can expect the Argentinian to pick up quite a few goals in those fixtures, even if Barca have not been at their best this season.

Meanwhile, Lewandowski finds himself on a brink of a suspension, having accumulated four yellow cards over the course of the season. If he gets one more on Saturday’s game against Freiburg, he could miss Bayern’s final matchday against Augsburg. That would be a huge blow to Lewy’s chances of winning the elusive boot, as well as beating Gerd Muller’s legendary record of 40 goals in a single Bundesliga season.

While Bayern Munich gave already secured the title, it’s clear that there’s plenty still to play for. Getting Lewandowski the Golden Shoe as well as Gerd’s record should be the goal of the squad in the upcoming games, and hopefully everyone works together to help him achieve it. If he can manage it, then even the Ballon d’Or could be on the table somewhere down the line (unless France Football cancels it again).

Update

Barcelona drew 3-3 with Levante and Messi scored only once. This makes the gap between him and Lewandowski 10 goals with two games left to play for each. Much better odds for Lewy, but you can’t rule anything out. The yellow card situation could come into play.