Messi wins 5th European Golden Shoe of career

Lionel Messi finished the 2017-18 campaign with the fifth European Golden Shoe of his career, collecting the prize for the second season in a row.

The Argentinian didn’t start La Liga’s final day against Real Sociedad on Sunday – a match which also marked Andres Iniesta’s last outing for Barcelona – but still collected the award despite being unable to add to his 34 league goals when he was introduced after 67 minutes.

Messi is the first player in history to collect five Golden Boots, with longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo picking up four over the course of his playing days. The 30-year-old’s trophy cabinet will also be supplemented by a sixth Pichichi – the individual gong given to La Liga’s top scorer.

The Golden Boot isn’t ranked purely on goals, instead relying on a points system to recognise Europe’s most potent finisher. Each strike tallied in one of Europe’s top five leagues is worth two points – meaning Messi finished the season on 68 – while goals in supposedly lesser leagues are given a weight of 1.5 or 1. Benfica’s Jonas scored as many as Messi in the 2017-18 term, but the Primeira Liga’s pull of 1.5 points per goal left the Brazilian veteran on 51 points and ninth overall on the list.

Messi’s greatest rival for the Golden Boot was Mohamed Salah, who struck 32 Premier League goals in his debut season with Liverpool. The Egyptian was also prolific on the continent, with his 10 Champions League goals beating Messi’s count by four.

Barcelona almost romped to an unbeaten league season under Ernesto Valverde, but many critics pointed to the singular brilliance of Messi being the chief reason the club eased to its 25th Spanish title. In addition to his 34 goals, Messi contributed 12 assists and was a notable absentee during the Blaugrana’s only La Liga defeat, a 5-4 reverse at Levante last Sunday.