Erling Haaland draws level with Lionel Messi, behind Cristiano Ronaldo in European Golden Shoe race

Erling Haaland's brace in Borussia Dortmund's 4-2 loss away to Bayern Munich saw him draw level with Lionel Messi in the race for the European Golden Shoe.

The brace took him to 19 Bundesliga goals for the season, which is the same number that Lionel Messi has managed in La Liga.

The top five leagues are usually afforded two coefficient points. This means that the pair are on 38 points, which is enough to place them in a three-way tie for third in the European Shoe rankings.

They are joined by in-form Eintracht Frankfurt forward Andre Silva, while Cristiano Ronaldo's strike for Juventus against Spezia last Wednesday took him to 20 league goals and 40 points.

9 | OH MY GOODNESS!!!ERLING!!! HAALAND!!!#FCBBVB 0-2 pic.twitter.com/1JylyOGycr

— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) March 6, 2021

The Portugal forward did not have adequate time to add to his tally on Saturday, as he started the game against Lazio on the bench and was only introduced with 20 minutes to go.

Lionel Messi also fired blanks against Osasuna, although he weighed in with two assists as Barcelona picked up a 2-0 win away from home to close the gap on Atletico Madrid.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's dominance of the European Golden Shoe has seemingly come to an end

Cristiano Ronaldo has not won the European Golden Shoe since 2015

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the European Golden Shoe, with 11 of the last 14 awards won by one of the duo.

Ciro Immobile is the current holder of the award, having scored 36 goals for Lazio last season, which was far more than either Messi or Ronaldo managed.

2️⃣3️⃣ games3️⃣1️⃣ goals@lewy_official is just something else in the Bundesliga this season 🤤⚽#FCBBVB #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/koiqyxyqsD

— 🏆🏆🏆FC Bayern English🏆🏆🏆 (@FCBayernEN) March 6, 2021

It has been the same story this season, with Robert Lewandowski racing clear in the race for the award, having already scored 31 goals from just 23 games.

The Bayern Munich forward is well clear of his nearest challengers and is the overwhelming favorite for a maiden European Golden Shoe.

This might be yet another indicator that Messi and Ronaldo's dominance at the summit of the game is coming to an end.