Forlán puts on a spurt in goalscoring race

Diego Forlán surpassed his personal best in Spain with two goals at the weekend to leave leaders Marc Janko and Samuel Eto'o watching their backs in the race to win the ESM Golden Shoe.

Close contest
Two goals, including a late winner, in Club Atlético de Madrid's 3-2 victory against RCD Espanyol moved the Uruguayan striker to within three points of Janko at the top of the table, and things might have been even closer had the FC Salzburg forward not registered in the 4-2 defeat at SK Rapid Wien which postponed his side's title celebrations.

'Personal record'
Eto'o, in second, also found the net as FC Barcelona were held to a 3-3 draw by Villarreal CF and remains the top scorer in Spain with 28 goals, although Forlán is now just one behing him. "I've now got 27 goals and I'm closer to the pichichi prize," the Atlético striker said. "More importantly, the goals gained a very important win for our team. I'm thrilled because I've beaten my personal record in Spain, which was 25."

Four-goal haul
Further down the rankings, in the most impressive individual feat of the weekend Mario Gómez drew level with Grafite at the top of the Bundesliga goalscoring table. The German international got all four as VfB Stuttgart surged into title contention with a 4-1 victory against league leaders VfL Wolfsburg.

The leading five countries (Spain, Italy, Germany, France and England) on the UEFA Ranking have two as their multiplier. This is to emphasise the difference in (international) performance level between the clubs from those countries and those from the other nations.

A player cannot first play in a summer league (eg Norway) and then in a winter league (eg Spain) and combine the points total for each season.

Figures from Voetbal International