Lionel Messi wins his 6th Golden Shoe after scoring 36 goals in LaLiga

34 La Liga appearances. 36 goals. 13 assists. A goal or an assist every 55.3 minutes, the LaLiga title, Lionel Messi has enjoyed an incredible 2018-19 season with Barcelona. The Argentine was in sublime form for the Blaugrana, as he helped Barcelona successfully defend the LaLiga title. With his 36 goals, Messi has been rewarded for his goalscoring exploits by clinching his sixth Golden Shoe award. 

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Messi's mesmerising numbers

The Golden Shoe award is given to the top goalscorer in Europe's top five leagues, which include the English Premier League, Bundesliga, LaLiga, Serie A and France's Ligue 1. What's more, Lionel Messi has also scored a total of 51 goals in his 49 games all season. This means that the Barcelona mainstay has now scored 50-plus goals for the sixth time in his career. While Barcelona may have suffered a dismal end to the season, courtesy of Liverpool's Champions League exploits, the 32-year-old has shown no signs of slowing down with age. 

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The 2018-19 season has been the Argentine's fifth 35-plus goal season. Naturally, he also clinched the Pichichi award in LaLiga in 2018-19, as he raced to his 36 goals in the league. In doing so, the Argentine has also equalled Telmo Zarra’s all-time record of six seasons as the top goalscorer in LaLiga; a record which has stood since 1953. Having missed out on the Champions League last season, Barcelona will be hoping that the Argentinian star continues his goalscoring exploits this time around too.

Barcelona face stiff competition from Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid this season, with their Clasico rivals topping the LaLiga table after winning five of their eight league games so far. Barcelona, meanwhile, are second on the table, courtesy of Real Madrid's draw against Atletico Madrid. Just two points separate the league leaders from Barcelona for now, with Diego Simeone's Atletico trailing Barcelona by the margin of a single point. 

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