Ronaldo catches Suarez in European Golden Shoe standings

Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to the top of the European Golden Shoe standings following his two goals in Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Celta de Vigo in La Liga on Monday evening.

The Portuguese attacker has now netted 20 goals in the Spanish top flight this term to move level with Liverpool forward Luis Suarez, who was not in Premier League action at the weekend.

Atletico Madrid star Diego Costa failed to find the net in his side's hard-fought 1-0 win over Malaga and has to settle for third spot for now.

Giuseppe Rossi sits fourth, but is unlikely to add to his tally any time soon after picking up a knee injury in Fiorentina's victory against Livorno.

French attacker Antoine Griezmann makes his first appearance in the top 10 after scoring once in Real Sociedad's 2-0 win over Bilbao.

Rank	Player	Country	Club	League	Weight	Goals	Points
1	C. Ronaldo	POR	Real Madrid	ESP	2	20 (+2)	40
=	Luis Suarez	URU	Liverpool	ENG	2	20	40
3	Diego Costa	ESP	Atletico Madrid	ESP	2	19	38
4	Giuseppe Rossi	ITA	Fiorentina	ITA	2	14	28
5	Nerijus Valskis *	LTU	Suduva	LTU	1	27	27
6	Sergio Aguero	ARG	Manchester City	ENG	2	13	26
7	Alfred Finnbogason	ISL	Heerenveen	NED	1.5	17	25.5
8	Antoine Griezmann	FRA	Real Sociedad	ESP	2	12 (+1)	24
9	Vladimir Voskoboinikov *	EST	Kalju Nomme	EST	1	23	23
10	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	SWE	Paris Saint-Germain	FRA	1.5	15	22.5
=	Marko Devic	UKR	Metalist Kharkiv	UKR	1.5	15	22.5
=	Philipp Zulechner	AUT	Grodig	AUT	1.5	15	22.5

History & How It Works

Players such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry and Diego Forlan have won the European Golden Shoe in the past few seasons, with the Argentina international as the latest winner of the award following his 46 goals in 2012-13.

Other noteworthy winners include the likes of Francesco Totti, Luca Toni, Ronaldo, Marco van Basten, Eusebio and Gerd Muller.

The weightings are determined by the league's ranking on the Uefa coefficients, which in turn depend on the results of each league's clubs in European competition over the previous five seasons. Goals scored in the top five leagues according to the Uefa coefficients are multiplied by a factor of two, and goals scored in the leagues ranked six to 21 are multiplied by 1.5. Goals in all other leagues are worth one single point.

This measure has prevented players from so-called weaker leagues from winning the European Golden Shoe, since a goal scored in, for example, Armenia, Estonia or Azerbaijan, carries less weight than a goal scored in Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga or the Premier League.

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Aguero father rules out Barcelona switch

Sergio Aguero will not be leaving City in order to join Barcelona, his father has confirmed.

The 25-year-old has scored 19 goals in 20 appearances for the Blues so far this term, leading to speculation that the four-time European champions could offer him a return to Spain.

But his father, Leonel, insists there is no truth in such rumours.

"I would like to see Sergio and Messi playing together but there is nothing at all," he told Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo              .

Aguero, who is currently sidelined with a calf injury, will get the chance to visit the Camp Nou in February when City take on Barcelona in the Champions League.

He will come head-to-head with international team-mate Lionel Messi in that game, and Aguero Sr has revealed that the pair have exchanged good-natured messages about the contest.

Sergio and Leo always speak and more after the Champions League draw,” he added.

“They're good friends, like laughing and they're already joking between them ahead the City v Barca clash.

"We will see two great games. I don't know if I will visit Messi's home, but I will go to hotel for sure to say hello to him"

Leonel also expressed his belief that City will edge a tight two-legged tie between the teams.

"I think it will be a 2-0 in England and at least a 0-1 in Barcelona,” he added. “I love Messi so much, but I want my son's team to win. It's a pity both Barça and City are facing each other so soon.

"I wish Sergio to score but the main thing is Manchester City win. Barça's players are all great but they should be careful of City's ones, as they are very good as well.

“They are hungry and they need to rule Barcelona out of Champions League if they want to keep winning titles."

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Pellegrini : Aguero , better than Suarez

Manuel Pellegrini believes Luis Suarez could be the star striker in the Premier League but rates Sergio Aguero as the better player.

The Liverpool man jumped ahead of his Manchester City counterpart in the top-flight scoring charts on Wednesday after netting all four goals in a comfortable win over Norwich - taking his tally to 13 in nine outings.

"Suarez is a very important striker, but I think Sergio participates more in the game," Pellegrini is quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror.

"Sergio is just 25-years-old, so I think of course he can improve. I think this year he has improved a lot in the way he works during matches.

"He has always been a top player and he has always scored goals, but I think at this moment, he has added working for the team without the ball, which is also important for him.

"I never said he was the best striker in the Premier League - I said he was the best player. Maybe there are players who are better strikers than him, but not as complete as him."

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