UEFA Champions League 2018/19 Golden Boot: Top Contenders at the start of April 2019

#2 Moussa Marega (Mali, FC Porto)

FC Porto v AS Roma - UEFA Champions League Round of 16: Second Leg

Goals Scored - 6

Moussa Marega has been a revelation this season for Porto in the Champions League. He generally plays as a second striker and can be a tricky customer on the field.

Mali International has been one of the most consistent performers of the tournament. He failed to score in the opening game of the group stages, against Schalke, but since then, Marega has been on a roll. He scored in all 5 of the remaining games and finished the group stages with 5 goals from 5 games.

Marega missed the round of 16 away defeat to Roma, due to a thigh strain, but returned to time for the home leg. He was phenomenal on the night, scoring one and setting up another, taking his team through.

Porto will be up against Liverpool in the Quarter Final next and the Portuguese side will be hoping for another masterclass from Marega.

#1 Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona)

FC Barcelona v Olympique Lyonnais - UEFA Champions League Round of 16: Second Leg

Goals Scored - 8

The Barcelona Skipper has been in terrific form this season in every tournament he has set foot in. The UEFA Champions League has seen his wrath too and even though he has missed 2 games due to injury, he is still leading the race to become the tournament top scorer.

Messi finished the group stages with 6 goals, however, he failed to score in the away leg of the round of 16 tie, against Lyon. In the home leg though, Messi churned up magic on the field, scoring a brace and setting up 2 others to secure a memorable 5-1 win.

Barcelona face Manchester United next in the Quarter Finals and with Messi in the team, it could be two long nights for the Red Devils. The Argentinean has already scored 8 goals from 6 games so far and is averaging a goal every 60 minutes played! Unbelievable, but perhaps that's why he is the best in the world.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written close to 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Sujith M