Cristiano Ronaldo may have ended the season without winning a trophy for Real Madrid but at least the Portuguese can console himself by taking home the European Golden Shoe for a record fourth time in his career.
Ronaldo’s hat-trick in the final game of the season against Getafe ensured that he finished the season on 48 goals from just 35 appearances. That placed him way ahead of his nearest competitor Lionel Messi of Barcelona, who managed 43 from 38 appearances, and secured the accolade for the fourth time after previously winning it in 2008 while he was at Manchester United, 2011 with Real Madrid and sharing the prize with Luis Suárez last year.
Ronaldo’s total was also just two short of the all-time record of 50 goals that won Messi the title in 2012.
Manchester City’s Sergio Agüero was a distant third with 26 Premier League goals.
The award is based on a points system that allows players in tougher leagues to win even if they score fewer goals than a player in a weaker league. Weightings are determined by the league’s ranking on the UEFA coefficients, with goals scored in the top five leagues multiplied by a factor of two and goals scored in the leagues ranked six to 21 by 1.5.
Sunderland’s Kevin Phillips remains the only Englishman to ever win the award for scoring 30 goals in 2000.
