Lionel Messi has won the La Liga ‘Player of the Month’ award for the first time ever. The Argentine becomes only the second ever Barcelona player to have ever won the award, after his Brazilian teammate Neymar had won the award earlier in the season.
Messi has been in sparkling form this January, although his haul of 6 goals in games against Granada, Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid and Malaga wasn’t his best in his goal-heavy career in Barcelona. This does beg the question as to why it has taken La Liga so long to recognize Messi’s undoubted talent.
The trophy is awarded by La Liga’s main sponsors BBVA and is voted for by LaLiga.es writers, having only been created in September 2013. However, despite its recent inception, the fact that there have been 22 winners prior to him is rather staggering, despite Messi lighting up La Liga with his displays in recent seasons.
Neymar Jr created history in November
Earlier this season, Neymar had created history by becoming the first ever Barcelona player to win the La Liga ‘Player of the Month’ award. Neymar scored 6 goals in November as well, a month in which Messi was injured, thus allowing the Brazilian to flourish.
Messi’s win now takes Barcelona’s total to 2, with Atletico Madrid having 6 winners, while Real Madrid have won the award thrice as well. The list of winners is a very egalitarian one, as La Liga have attempted to spread the award among all teams, both big and small, which might be a refreshing change to some.
Here is a complete list of all La Liga ‘Player of the Month’ winners:
| Year | Month | Award Winner | Team |
| 2013 | September | Diego Costa | Atletico Madrid |
| 2013 | October | Koke | Atletico Madrid |
| 2013 | November | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
| 2013 | December | Carlos Vela | Real Sociedad |
| 2014 | January | Ivan Rakitic | Sevilla |
| 2014 | February | Rafinha | Celta Vigo |
| 2014 | March | Keylor Navas | Levante |
| 2014 | April | Diego Godin | Atletico Madrid |
| 2014 | May | Diego Godin | Atletico Madrid |
| 2014 | September | Nolito | Celta Vigo |
| 2014 | October | Karim Benzema | Real Madrid |
| 2014 | November | Carlos Vela | Real Sociedad |
| 2014 | December | Luciano Vietto | Villareal |
| 2015 | January | Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid |
| 2015 | February | Alberto Bueno | Rayo Vallecano |
| 2015 | March | Vitolo | Sevilla |
| 2015 | April | Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid |
| 2015 | May | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
| 2015 | September | Nolito | Celta Vigo |
| 2015 | October | Borja Baston | Eibar |
| 2015 | November | Neymar Jr. | Barcelona |
| 2015 | December | Lucas Perez | Deportivo |
| 2016 | January | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
