Every time a year draws to a close, people in the football world turn their attention to which player has scored the most goals during said 12-month period.

You won't be surprised to read that the top scorer in Europe has been Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi in eight of the last nine calendar years - but it won't be either of them in 2019.

Harry Kane broke their dominance in 2017 with 56 goals in 52 games for Tottenham Hotspur and England, and now Robert Lewandowski has beaten Messi and Ronaldo.

The Bayern Munich star has been simply sensational throughout the year and is set to win the race to be the top goalscorer playing in Europe for club and country in 2019.

As leagues like La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga enter the winter break, let's take a look at Lewandowski's brilliant year and the players that were close to catching him.

Lewandowski on fire in 2019

Having joined Borussia Dortmund back in 2010, Lewandowski has been banging in goals in Germany for an entire decade and isn't showing any signs of slowing down.

The 31-year-old hit the 40-goal mark for the fourth straight season last term as Bayern did the double and, in the current campaign, he's scored a ridiculous 30 goals in just 25 games.

"Lewangoalski" bagged a brace in the 3-0 DfB Pokal final win over RB Leipzig back in May to surpass the great Gerd Muller as the all-time leading scorer in German Cup finals.

Bayern's number nine finished third in the 2018 scoring charts behind Messi and Ronaldo but comes out on top this year after registering 54 goals in 58 matches.

Who was closest to Lewandowski?

Messi was the Polish international's closest challenger, with the Barcelona captain scoring 50 goals - a feat he's remarkably achieved nine times in the last ten years.

So, Messi is set to finish in second place, four goals behind Lewandowski, and below is UEFA's current top ten list of the most prolific forwards in Europe in 2019:

Robert Lewandowski - 54 goals in 58 games (Bayern & Poland)

Leo Messi - 50 goals in 58 games (Barca & Argentina)

Kylian Mbappe - 44 goals in 49 games (Paris Saint-Germain & France)

Raheem Sterling - 41 goals in 61 games (Manchester City & England)

Cristiano Ronaldo - 39 goals in 50 games (Juventus & Portugal)

Alfredo Morelos - 38 goals in 53 games (Rangers & Colombia)

Andraz Sporar - 36 goals in 46 games (Slovan Bratislava & Slovenia)

Erik Sorga - 35 goals in 45 games (Flora & Estonia)

Karim Benzema - 35 goals in 50 games (Real Madrid)

Sergio Aguero - 35 goals in 49 games (Man City & Argentina)

Lewandowski: Best in the world?

Lewandowski out-scored Messi, Mbappe, Sterling, Ronaldo and a host of other stars in 2019 and surely established himself as the best centre-forward in world football.

The lethal marksman, who's scored 221 times in 267 matches for the German champions, ranked eighth in this year's Ballon d'Or and looks as good as he's ever been.



If he recovers well from recent groin surgery and keeps up his red-hot form when the Bundesliga returns, the Pole won't just top scoring charts in 2020, he'll be a Ballon d'Or favourite too.

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