The scoring ecstasy of Robert Lewandowski at the start of the season, the same one that has allowed him to beat several records, has equaled a fight to finish as top scorer in 2019 that Leo Messi seemed to be on track to win halfway through the year.
The Argentinian, injured at the start of the campaign, has already been in tune and has scored 5 games in a row, which has made the fight to finish as top scorer in the calendar year return.
So far in 2019, Robert Lewandowski has scored 38 goals, compared to the 36 that Leo Messi has scored in all competitions. Along with these two, there are plenty of known players such as Kylian Mbappé and Sergio Aguero who could still reach them (32), but they are not the only ones.
According to 'ProFootballDB', BeSoccer's resident statisticians, these 4 greats are joined by players from smaller leagues, such as Estonia and Wales.
Erik Sorga stands out above the rest, a 20-year-old who has become a sensation in North-East Europe. Despite the low standard of his league, the striker has scored 33 goals in the league and different cups and still has several matches ahead of him to reach that figure.
Sorga leads the Golden Boot, but given the low value that goals scored in Estonia receive, he will not be amongst those competing for the trophy at the end of the year.
However, the big clubs in Europe aren't losing track of him because his youth and way of playing invite us to trust him to become a reputable goalscorer in the future.
Along with all of them, Greg Draper, the veteran striker for The New Saints in Wales, is also fighting to finish 2019 at the top. The striker has 32 goals and also has games left to increase his numbers.
If we don't just look at European competitions, the MLS shows that there are two players already in the last stages of their careers who keep their scoring instinct intact. Although both are eliminated from the competition and will not be able to improve their numbers, Carlos Vela and Zlatan Ibrahimovic - 36 and 31 goals respectively - are at the height of Europe's top scorers.
On the other hand, a glance at the stats reveal the spectacular year of players such as Raheem Sterling, Dusan Tadic or Bruno Fernandes, who are not pure strikers but are up there with the best. The Englishman has scored 29 goals and is not far from his teammate Aguero or Mbappé. Tadic, after his sumptuous end to 2018-19, has scored 28 goals this year. And Bruno Fernandes, who was touted with a move to the Premier League in the summer, is currently on 26.
Despite their incredible performance, they are all far from being able to face Messi and Lewandowski, who will continue to score and have this honorable title closer than any other attacker, no matter how much a player like Sorga fights.