Lionel Messi Tops Soccer Season, Wins La Liga golden boot for a record seventh time

Lionel Messi claimed a record seventh La Liga golden boot after scoring twice in a 5-0 win over Alaves on Sunday as Barcelona ended their disappointing season on a more positive note. This is the fourth season in succession that Messi has finished as La Liga’s top scorer, while he was also top of the pile in 2009/10, 2011/12 and 2012/13. Barcelona may have been beaten to La Liga title by Real Madrid but its talisman, Lionel Messi, has won the Pichichi Trophy awarded to the top scorer of the league for the record seventh time. Messi scored twice in Barcelona’s 5-0 drubbing of Alaves late Sunday to take his total tally to 25 goals. Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema could not beat the mark after failing to score in the 2-2 draw with Leganes later in the evening. For the record, Messi has top-scored in: 2019-20, 2018-19, 2017-18, 2016-17, 2012-13, 2011-12, and 2009-10. That’s seven times in 12 seasons! He has scored 444 goals in the league since his debut as a 16-year-old in the 2003-04 season. After him is Cristiano Ronaldo, now with Juventus, with 311 goals. With 21 assists, Messi also broke the record that had been safe with his former teammate Xavi since 2008-09 season. Barcelona would hope the Argentine wasn’t bowing out with a flourish, as the stalemate over his contract extension continues. The diminutive Argentine has been with the Catalan club since he joined the club’s famed academy, La Masia, in 2002. Ballon dOr, the prestigious award given by the France Football magazine, will not be awarded for the first time since 1956, the organisers said on Monday citing the disruptions caused by the pandemic. “It isn’t a decision we took lightly but we had to accept it couldn’t be a normal or typical Ballon d’Or winner, and what really worried us it that it wouldn’t be fairly awarded,” France Football editor Pascal Ferre said. Messi had won the award six times in his career, one more than Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi delivered a stinging assessment after that game but Setien said he still believes Barcelona, at their best, can win the Champions League next month.”Today was very different,” said Messi after the Alaves win. “We have taken an important step in terms of attitude and commitment and things can follow on from that. We have shown we can change.” As for his seventh golden boot, Messi added: “Individual prizes and objectives are secondary. It’s an important achievement to win it seven times but I would have liked it to have been accompanied by the La Liga title.”