Lionel Messi claims record fifth European Golden Shoe after ending La Liga season with 34 goals

Image: Lionel Messi becomes the first player to win the European Golden Shoe five times

Lionel Messi picked up a record fifth European Golden Shoe after finishing the domestic league campaign with 34 goals.

The Barcelona forward was trailing Mohamed Salah in April, but eight goals in the Argentine's last six La Liga games - including hat-tricks against Leganes and Deportivo - saw Messi finish two clear of the Liverpool winger.

It is the fifth time Messi has claimed the award (2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2016-17), moving the 30-year-old one clear of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Lionel Messi's final league goal of the season was a sensational strike in Barcelona's 5-1 win against Villarreal

After hitting 30 Premier League goals for the first time, Harry Kane finished third in the Golden Shoe standings, while Messi's record-breaking win was confirmed after Serie A duo Ciro Immobile (Lazio) and Mauro Icardi (Inter) finished on 29 strikes, along with Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski.

Paris Saint-Germain forward Edinson Cavani finished seventh with 28 goals in Ligue 1, while Ronaldo bounced back from a poor start in La Liga to finish with 26 league goals for Real Madrid.

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Image: Mohamed Salah poses with his Premier League Golden Boot after scoring 32 goals in the league

Completing the top 10 are Benfica's Jonas - who, despite also scoring 34 goals, comes ninth due to the Primeira Liga having a weaker coefficient - and Barcelona's Luis Suarez, who scored 25 times this season.

Also See:

European Golden Shoe final standings

Name Goals Points
Lionel Messi 34 68
Mohamed Salah 32 64
Harry Kane 30 60
Mauro Icardi 29 58
Ciro Immobile 29 58
Robert Lewandowski 29 58
Edinson Cavani 28 56
Cristiano Ronaldo 26 52
Jonas 34 51
Luis Suarez 25 50

* Since the 1996/97 season, the Golden Shoe has been awarded based on a points system, with goals scored in Europe's top five leagues - according to the UEFA coefficients - multiplied by a factor of two

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