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What's the story?
Lionel Messi has secured his sixth Pichichi title - a record that belonged to Athletic Bilbao great Telmo Zarra.
It has been known for some time that Messi will lift his sixth Pichichi, as both Luis Suarez and Karim Benzema, who are joint-second in the scoring charts, were injured in the last couple of weeks.
In case you didn't know...
Messi helped Barcelona salvage a draw against Eibar in their last Liga game of the 2018/19 campaign. The 31-year-old struck twice to ensure a 2-2 draw for the Blaugrana against Eibar, which also saw him ending the campaign with 36 league goals.
Messi leads the race for the European Golden Shoe with a four-goal advantage over Kylian Mbappe but the French forward is yet to play his final league game. The Argentine wizard is also one of the highest assist providers in the current campaign.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has proven that he is head and shoulders above everyone else with his exploits throughout the season. Messi has netted 50 goals in all competitions and it is likely that he will end as the top scorer of the current Champions League campaign with 12 goals.
The heart of the matter
Thanks to his exploits, Messi will lift his sixth Pichichi, thereby equalling Telmo Zarra's record as the player with the most La Liga top-scorer awards. The Athletic Bilbao legend topped the scoring charts six times during his 15 season tenure with Bilbao.
Messi will lift his sixth La Liga top scorer award, matching Zarra's record. Besides Zarra and Messi, only Alfredo Di Stéfano, Quini, and Hugo Sánchez won five Pichichi titles, while Cristiano Ronaldo managed to win three.
Suarez and Benzema ended jointly second on the scoring charts in the Liga with 21 goals, which is way behind Messi's tally.
What's next?
Barcelona still has a game to play in the current campaign as they face Valencia in the Copa del Rey finals.
It remains likely that Messi will target another Pichichi in the upcoming season to break Zarra's record haul.
