Messi - Mbappe: The fierce fight for the European Golden Shoe 2019

Messi y Mbappé luchan por la Bota de Oro | sport

sport.es

22/04/2019 Upd. at 11:48 CEST

Barça's Messi leads the way but Mbappe shut the gap with a weekend treble

Leo Messi and Kylian Mbappe are embroiled in an interesting battle for the European Golden Shoe between now and the end of the season.

Both the Argentine and the young French forward have seveal league games left and anything could happen. Messi, who has won the award five times and in each of the last two seasons, leads the way with 33 goals (66 points), three more than Mbappe (60 points), who scored a hat-trick against Monaco on Sunday.

The remaining fixtures facing each player will determing who wins the fight. While Messi's immersed in three competitions, though, with a chance of winning them all, inluding the Champions League, Mbappe can focus exclusively on Ligue 1 and winning the Golden Shoe.

Messi, meabwhile, could be rotated for some games as Barça prepare for a Champions League semifinal against Liverpool. That could benefit Mbappe, whose goals now have the same value (two points) as Messi's despite Ligue 1 and La Liga being very different competitions.

Here are the league games remaining for the two:

LEO MESSI

Jornada 34

23 April: Alaves - Barcelona

Jornada 35

27 April: Barcelona - Levante

Jornada 36

4 May: Celta - Barcelona

Jornada 37

12 May: Barcelona - Getafe

Jornada 38

19 de May: Eibar - Barcelona

KYLIAN MBAPPE