Golden Shoe 2018-19: Barcelona's Lionel Messi Wins Award for 6th Time

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has won his third consecutive and sixth overall Golden Shoe, handed to the top scorer in all of European football.

With 36 La Liga goals, he scored two more than last season:

It also marks the fourth straight year a Barcelona player won the award, with Luis Suarez taking it home after the 2015-16 campaign. He split it with Cristiano Ronaldo the season prior, marking the last time a player outside La Liga won the honour, as he played for Liverpool at the time.

Messi's first win came in the 2009-10 season, when he scored 34 goals for Barcelona. Ronaldo won it with Real Madrid the following campaign, before back-to-back wins from the Argentinian star.

The 31-year-old was almost assured he would win again this year coming into the weekend, as the only player with a realistic chance of catching him was Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe. He needed five goals against Reims in his final match to beat Messi, but he only managed one in a 3-1 loss:

Messi played a crucial role in Barcelona's successful La Liga title defence with his 36 goals and crushed the competition in Spain's top division. Tied for second place in the top scorer's race were Suarez and Karim Benzema of Real Madrid, but they only managed 21 goals.

The Blaugrana cruised to the title, finishing 11 points head of Atletico Madrid and 19 ahead of rivals Real Madrid.

By winning his sixth Golden Shoe, Messi increased his lead in the all-time standings, leading Ronaldo by two. Mbappe finished this year's race in second place, ahead of Sampdoria's Fabio Quagliarella, who scored 26 goals.