Opinion

Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo and Lukaku light up Serie A's top scorer race

As if this season's Serie A championship is not intriguing and captivating enough, three of the world's deadliest strikers are engaged in a fascinating race for the leading scorer title.

Romelu Lukaku, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo

(L-R) Romelu Lukaku, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo Source: Getty Images

AC Milan and Internazionale are deeply immersed in a serious challenge to serial winners Juventus in what appears to be the most open battle in years.

And spearheading the campaigns of these three Italian giants are three forwards who have been scoring goals galore at the highest level for more than a decade.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku are leading the goalscoring charts in Italy and it would take a major reversal of form for anyone to steal a march on this merciless triumvirate of grace and power, especially if their respective teams continue to do well despite the surprise presence of Carl Valeri's old club Sassuolo.

The Swedish veteran is the current top scorer with 10 goals from six matches, followed by the Portuguese with eight from five and the Belgian with seven from seven.

All three scored twice at the weekend to underline their importance to their team.

Ibrahimovic found the net with a glorious header and a tap-in with his thigh in leaders Milan's 3-1 win at Napoli, Ronaldo scored two outrageous goals in Juve's 2-0 win over Cagliari and Lukaku led by example in Inter's 4-2 comeback win over Torino.

The trio are easily the leading lights of a Serie A season that promises enough fireworks and drama to whet its fans' appetite.

The three marksmen are united by a natural instinct that puts them - much like Lazio's Ciro Immobile - head and shoulders above the rest of the Serie A's finest.

Yet they are so different in the way they go about their business of tearing defences apart.

Ibrahimovic, at 39, knows he has to use his energy conservatively. He will not be involved too much in the build-up side of things but he will use his height and first touch to deadly effect.

He will not think twice about going for the spectacular and the type of goals he has scored this season range from the eye-catching to the jaw-dropping.
Ronaldo is younger and obviously much faster than Ibra and the way he made space for himself with his quick feet to fire home an unstoppable drive that gave Juve the lead against Cagliari showed that he is still on top of his sumptuous game.
It is being rumoured that Ronaldo is yearning for a return to his previous club Real Madrid and if that were to happen, Juve would be hard pressed to find someone with the ability to score so many goals, most of them decisive.



Lukaku is completely different to Ibra and CR7.

He is the closest one can get to a footballing battering ram. His considerable size and brute strength must make him a nightmare to contain and you can understand why Inter try to get him involved as often and as quickly as possible.

Yet describing the Belgian merely as a big and strong predator of the penalty box does not do his ability justice.



Although he is no Hazard or De Bruyne, Lukaku is very mobile and can play; and his ability to see an opening or free up space for his teammates is often overlooked.

So who will become this season's 'capocannoniere'? Much will depend on how Milan, Juve and Inter's seasons unfold.

At this stage of the season it could go anywhere, but since I expect Juventus to snare their 10th straight championship, my money is on Ronaldo.


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3 min read
Published 23 November 2020 2:06pm
By Philip Micallef

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