Lionel Messi Named La Liga's Best Forward, Player for 2014-15 Season

Barcelona's Lionel Messi has been named as the best player and forward of the 2014-15 season at the La Liga awards, despite being beaten to the Pichichi by Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sport English confirmed the news on Twitter:

Though he fell short of Ronaldo's incredible haul of 48, the Argentinian racked up a stunning 43 goals and was well ahead of the pair's nearest rivals, Barca team-mate Neymar and Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann, who netted 22 times apiece.

Messi did create more goals, though, with 21 assists compared with Ronaldo's 16—which, when combined with their goal tallies, means they both contributed to a phenomenal 64 goals apiece.

What likely separated the pair was that Messi's goals helped Barcelona to winning the La Liga title, whereas Ronaldo and Real were once again left kicking their heels in second.

The diminutive forward has won both awards every season since 2008-09, save only for the 2013-14 campaign when Ronaldo got the nod on both counts, and adds to his impressive collection of individual honours including four Ballon d'Ors.

According to the statistically calculated ratings of both Squawka and WhoScored.com, Messi was the top-performing player in the league last season ahead of Ronaldo, which adds further weight to his victory.

After missing a portion of the 2015-16 season through injury, Messi faces significant competition for the award next time around, but having scored three times in two full games on his return to action, the 28-year-old looks scarcely affected by the setback and may well go on to win it again.