Mohamed Salah Faces Uphill Task In Challenging Lionel Messi For Golden Shoe

Mohamed Salah's chances of winning the Golden Shoe award are all but over following Lionel Messi's goal against Villarreal on Wednesday night.

Having sealed a domestic double and later avoiding defeat to Real Madrid over the weekend to preserve their unbeaten league run, Barcelona turned in a dominant performance during a 5-1 win over Villarreal at the Nou Camp.

Ousmane Dembele scored a brace while Philippe Coutinho and Paulinho were also on the scoresheet. Messi's goal on the stroke of halftime though, may have given him a second consecutive Golden Shoe award as his tally now stands at 34 league goals in 35 matches played.

The Golden Shoe award is given to the leading goalscorer in Europe's top leagues and Salah's stellar form throughout his debut season at Liverpool seemingly made him the favorite for the accolade.

However, the Egyptian forward drew blanks in his last two league games with his tally currently standing at 31 league goals in 35 games played with just one game left in Liverpool's Premier League campaign.

Messi meanwhile, has scored five goals in his last three games to overtake Salah with Barcelona still having two La Liga games to play.

It means Salah requires at least a hattrick in Liverpool's season-concluder against Brighton & Hove Albion this Sunday to stand a chance of sharing the award with the Argentinean, though there is also the unlikely scenario of him scoring four along with Messi drawing blanks in his next two league outings to win the award.

Following behind the duo are Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski and Lazio's Ciro Immobile, both of whom currently boast 29 league goals this season. Lewandowski has one league game remaining to pull off the unthinkable while like Messi, Immobile has two games left in his campaign.

Messi won the Golden Shoe award last season after scoring 37 league goals in 34 games and looks likely to win it for a record fifth time.

Should Salah win the award, he will be the first Premier League player to do so since Luis Suarez achieved the feat for Liverpool in 2014, with his 31 league goals being shared with Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, who has won the Golden Shoe four times along with Messi, was notably the last Premier League player to win the award outright after his 31 league goals in 2008 helped Manchester United to a Premier League crown.

Regardless, Salah will rightfully target Champions League glory over the personal honor of winning the Golden Shoe award, having helped Liverpool to their first Champions League final since 2007 where they will face Ronaldo's Real Madrid side on May 26.

"If I had to choose between the Champions League and the Golden Boot, of course it would be the Champions League, without a doubt," Salah said before the semifinals against Roma last month. "To win the Champions League is enormous for everyone, the rest is not important."