Cristiano Ronaldo is chasing a fifth European Golden Shoe after adding to his tally with the winner in El Clasico at the weekend.
The Real Madrid star is already the only man to have won the award on four separate occasions and is only one goal adrift of Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain and Benfica’s Jonas this season.
With more games remaining in Spain than Portugal, and Higuain facing a four-game suspension in Italy, Ronaldo is well placed to retain the prize.
However, the race for the Golden Shoe isn’t as straightforward as it seems. As well as goals, the strength of the league you’re playing in is also a factor.
Barcelona 1 (Pique 56′) – 2 (Benzema 62′, Ronaldo 85′) Real Madrid
Match report
Real Madrid battled back from a goal down to end Barcelona’s unbeaten run in a tense Clasico on Saturday evening.
Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed an 85th minute winner for his side as Luis Enrique’s men were unable to beat a Real Madrid reduced to 10 men, after Sergio Ramos was sent off for two bookable offences.
A tentative first 45 minutes ended goalless with Barcelona enjoying the majority of possession. Real were set out in a far more rigid defensive style than we have seen from them this season and the home side found it difficult to carve open opportunities, though Luis Suarez was guilty of missing a golden chance early on.
It took until the 56th minute for Gerard Pique to open the scoring, losing his marker, Pepe, at a corner and powering a header into the bottom corner of Keylor Navas’ goal.
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Real responded almost immediately, Marcelo making a rare venture outside the confines of his position at left-back and going on a marauding run down the wing, leaving static Barca players behind as he surged forwards. The ball was released by the box, the cross took a wicked deflection and fell above the head of Karim Benzema, who adjusted his body and scored with an acrobatic volley.
Real sat back, marshaled by a brilliant Casemiro, and invited Barcelona to attack them, looking to spring attacks on the counter. But as Lionel Messi dropped deeper and deeper to try and get involved, so Real took a stronger hold of the game.
Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid face a highly-anticipated visit to the Nou Camp to face arch-rivals Barcelona in a La Liga El Clasico on Saturday evening.
However, with a mere 24 hours away to one of his team’s biggest clashes of the season, Real talisman Cristiano Ronaldo took to Instagram to upload two photographs of himself enjoying some father/son-time with Cristiano Ronaldo Jr.
The first snap saw the Portuguese maestro, sporting a purple baseball cap backwards, take a selfie with his 5-year-old child while sitting by a lake, with the description: ‘Relaxing and giving food.’
The Portugal captain has put in some ordinary performances by his own standards this season as Real Madrid have struggled – but is there any way back?
At 31 years of age, it would not be inaccurate to say that more of Cristiano Ronaldo’s good days as a footballer lie behind him rather than in front of him. He’s scored the goals, won the trophies but is, inevitably, entering his twilight years as a player. That’s natural. He may the richest, he may be the most popular but he’s not the best any more.