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Atletico Madrid forward Luis Suarez has claimed he is proud to have won the Golden Boot award in an era dominated by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Speaking to TVE1 (via MARCA), Suarez talks about his time at Barcelona when he took over from Lionel Messi to score a hat-trick against Real Madrid in the El Clasico.
The Uruguyuan stated cheekily about how proud it felt to beat both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo based on form and not because of any voting mechanism. Suarez said:
I like it, I like to assume that responsibility. [I am a player] who has fought a lot to be in the football elite because I have earned it the tough way, statistically. For me it's not about an individual award that they want to give me by voting."
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"I've always said it: I won two Golden Boots in the era of Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi and I have to be proud because I beat them in terms of numbers, not because people voted for me, and that has a lot of value. I assumed responsibility at Barcelona when Leo was not there. We played against Real Madrid and I scored three goals without Leo."
Notably, Suarez first won the European Golden Shoe during the 2013-14 season where he scored 31 league goals for Liverpool.
He also won La Liga's top scorer award, also known as the Pichichi Trophy, during the 2015-16 season. Suarez netted 40 goals in the league to guide Barcelona to their 24th La Liga title back then.
During that particular season Cristiano Ronaldo managed 35 goals while Lionel Messi was third with 26 goals in the league. It is worth noting that Suarez also registered the joint-most assists (16) in La Liga alongside team-mate Messi.
La Liga is now without both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
La Liga is now without both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the first time since Messi made his league debut back in 2004.
Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid to join Serie A giants Juventus in the summer of 2018. The 36-year-old forward has since left Italy to rejoin his former side Manchester United this summer.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi left Spain a couple of months ago after Barcelona's financial troubles forced him to to join Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.
