Ciro Immobile bags European Golden Boot and puts an end to Ronaldo and Messi dominance

The Lazio striker has been in great goal-scoring form this season.

Lazio's Italian forward Ciro Immobile
Lazio’s Italian forward Ciro Immobile celebrates after scoring a penalty during the Italian Serie A football match Lazio Rome vs Sampdoria on January 18, 2020 at the Olympic stadium in Rome. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP) (Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

First, it was Luka Modric, who halted the stretch of both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Ballon d’Or race by winning the prestigious award in 2018. Now it is Lazio striker who has come up good to grab the European Golden shoe award this season. It would be an understatement to call Immobile an undeserved candidate to win it since he has scored more penalty goals in his total of 36 goals – equalled the record of Gonzalo Higuain – in Serie A this season. Perhaps, the 30-year-old deserves this award for all he had done over the years.

First and foremost, Immobile has already three Serie A golden boots under his belt, and the most impressive fact is he was able to win his first one with Torino – a club of mid-table quality. Moreover, Lazio are partially defensive and attacking side, which relies much on counter-attacking goals. The 30-year-old has managed to score 125 goals since joining Biancocelesti in 2016. An eye-catching feat while he is third in the list of Lazio’s all-time top goal scorers.

Robert Lewandowski and Cristiano Ronaldo were the closest candidates in the race for the Golden shoes this season, with the latter one in particular. The battle got heated up when Ronaldo and Immobile showed no signs of stopping down, scoring goals regularly. However, the Portuguese forward slipped up the chance when Juve suffered a strange defeat against Cagliari. It allowed Immobile to capitalise on the opportunity, and finally, he had his hands at the prestigious award. With the award, the former Borussia Dortmund man becomes the first player to savour it other than Luis Suarez, Messi and Ronaldo in a decade.

Immobile was in cloud nine after receiving the Golden shoe, and he said it was a dream come true moment.

I am super happy and proud of what I’ve achieved, especially when I look back to where I started and everything I went through,”

“If you truly believe, sometimes, dreams do come true. I can only thank the coach and staff, my team-mates, and I can assure you these records are for the whole team.

“I also thank the Lazio fans, who made me feel indispensable for this team, and I am so proud of that. I want to be a living example that if you never give up, you can achieve any target.

The disappointing fact was that Lazio neither won the Serie A title – finishing fourth in the table – not was excellent in the Europa League despite showing a great promise at the start of the season.

Alongside Immobile, Lazio boast an array of exciting players like Joaquin Correa, Luis Alberto and Sergej Milinkovic and Luis Felipe, which makes Simone Inzaghi’s side a competent one in the Champions League next season.

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