Lionel Messi has won the Golden Shoe award for the third year running after finding the back of net for Barcelona 36 times this season.
He becomes the become the first player to win the award after his nearest challenger Kylian Mbappe failed to score the four goals he needed in Paris Saint-Germain’s final league match of the season on Friday.
The award goes to the leading scorer in league matches in Europe’s top divisions.
Mbappe ended the campaign on 33 goals after scoring PSG’s only goal in a 3-1 loss at Stade de Reims.
While Messi’s goal haul helped his side clinch the La Liga title last month, the 31-year-old Argentine said on Friday that he was not giving the Golden Shoe race much thought with the side still coming to terms with their Champions League semi-final elimination to Liverpool.
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‘I haven’t been thinking about that prize at all, we are still coping with what happened against Liverpool and I’m not thinking about personal awards,’ he told a news conference ahead of Saturday’s (today) Copa del Rey final against Valencia.