5 reasons why Messi will not finish as LaLiga's top goalscorer

#1 His selflessness

Messi passes the penalty to Luis Suarez

Beyond being just a prime goalscorer and a supreme playmaker, another well celebrated characteristic Messi possesses is his magnanimous nature.

The 31-year-old is Barcelona's undisputed penalty taker, but on numerous instances, Lionel Messi has passed up the opportunity to add more goals to his tally, preferring to boost the confidence of teammates, or aid in their own personal quests at the expense of himself.

He has allowed teammates such as Neymar and Suarez take penalties when he was on a hattrick, with Sunday's 8-2 victory over Huesca being the latest example. Numerous offers for Mascherano to break his Barcelona duck from the spot were also turned down by his compatriot, while he also infamously passed to ball to Suarez from the spot to aid in the Uruguayan's ultimately successful quest for the 2016 pichichi award.

Another indicator of this is the repertoire of instances where Messi set up teammates despite being in a goalscoring position, with Dembele's first Champions League goal for the club against Chelsea one of such examples.

Lionel's Messi's selfless nature when it comes to goalscoring goes in direct contrast with Ronaldo's selfish attitude who infamously complained about Arbeloa not passing the ball to him when the former Real Madrid defender scored his first league goal for Real Madrid goal in five seasons, and this is a factor which could see Lionel Messi not win the LaLiga Golden Boot this season.