Lionel Messi the godfather of football has been awarded fourth European Golden Shoe award on Friday after netting 37 times in La Liga in 2016-17.
The Argentinian headed Sporting CP’s Bas Dost (34 goals in Portugal’s Primeira Liga) and Borussia Dortmund‘s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (31 in the Bundesliga) in the top three to claim the prize, which is presented to Europe’s top goal scorer.
Also winning the award in 2012-13 (46 league goals), 2011-12 (50) and 2009-10 (34), Messi is tied with Cristiano Ronaldo for the most regular winner of the Golden Shoe.
Messi’s 37 goals last season came in 34 Spanish top-flight appearances, but they were delivered as part of losing cause, as Real pipped Barca to the title.
Barcelona illustrated Messi’s progress in front of goal during the campaign and provided their picks for his best goals of the season:
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has netted 12 goals in 12 games in the 2017-18 La Liga campaign.
He is trailing Lazio’s Ciro Immobile and Paris Saint-Germain’s Edinson Cavani, who netted 15 goals in Serie A and Ligue 1, respectively, in the race for this year’s Golden Shoe. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, As Monaco’s Radamel Falcao and Inter Milan’s Mauro Icardi have all netted 13 times.
Ronaldo, though, does not look like troubling the upper echelon of the European Golden Shoe rankings anytime soon, as he has netted just once in La Liga this season.
Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, 30, will be looking to add to his tally on Sunday when top-of-the-table Barca travel to face second-place Valencia at the Mestalla.
