The Argentine maestro’s two goals against Alavés on the last day of the La Liga season cemented his seventh La Liga golden boot, overshadowing a record he previously held in conjunction with Telmo Zarra.
It also marks the fourth consecutive season that the Barcelona captain tops the league’s goalscorer charts.
It is the first time that the winner of the Pichichi Trophy has scored less than 30 goals since Daniel Guiza of Mallorca 12 years ago.
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Messi finished the season with 25 goals, four ahead of his closest rival, Real Madrid Karim Benzema.
He also recorded 21 assists over the course of the league campaign, breaking the record of 20 previously held by his former Barcelona teammate Xavi.
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After Barcelona suffered a surprising loss to Osasuna in their penultimate league game, the same afternoon that Real Madrid claimed the league title for the first time since 2017, Messi called his team “weak”.
“We did not expect to end this way, but it sums up the year for us,” Messi told Spanish television after the game.
“We have been an erratic and weak team, which can be defeated with enough intensity and enthusiasm. We have lost many points that we should not have done and we have been very inconsistent.”
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