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What's the story?
Lionel Messi's scintillating form this campaign has found some backing in the statistics of La Liga. According to the numbers in the Spanish top flight, the Argentine maestro dominates nearly every attacking department this season.
In case you didn't know...
Messi has been at the top of La Liga for over a decade, and Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from Real Madrid to Juventus last summer has further paved the way for the Barcelona talisman to dominate more aspects of the league.
The 31-year-old has guided the Catalan giants to another La Liga title and has the chance to complete a domestic double if Barcelona win the Copa del Rey final against Valencia later this week.
The Argentina international has netted a staggering 50 goals in all competitions for the Blaugrana this season, 36 of which came in La Liga. With numbers like that, Messi is well on his way to winning a third European Golden Shoe after having already won a record sixth Pichichi award.
The only drawback in Messi's phenomenal campaign appears to be Barcelona's Champions League exit earlier this month. The Spanish champions gave away their three-goal lead against Liverpool in the second leg of their semi-final clash and promptly crashed out of the competition.
The heart of the matter
While Messi failed to inspire Barcelona to the Champions League final, the Blaugrana captain dominated the league in Spain. Apart from his La Liga goals, Messi also leads the assists chart with 13 to his name, same as Sevilla midfielder Pablo Sarabia.
No player stands close to the Argentine in terms of goals, shooting, passing or creating chances. The 31-year-old has 171 shots on target, 92 created chances and a staggering 1139 passes to his name.
Messi only comes second in the take-on stat, as former Southampton player Boufal completed 144 take-ons, which is 10 more than the Argentine.
Here are the stats for the 2018-19 La Liga campaign, with Messi heading 14 out of 15 of those.
GOALS: Messi (36), Suarez (21), Benzema (21)
ASSISTS: Messi (13), Sarabia (13), Cazorla (10)
TOTAL SHOTS: Messi (171), Raul (115), Griezmann (113)
SHOTS ON TARGET: Messi (87), Suarez (58), Raul (47)
CHANCES CREATED: Messi (92), Jony (85), Parejeo (81)
CHANCES CREATED (OPEN PLAY): Messi (78), Sarabia (57),Griezmann (55)
BIG CHANCES CREATED: Messi (34), Sarabia (17), Suarez (14)
TAKE-ONS COMPLETED: Boufal (144), Messi (134), Orellana (81)
FOULS WON (FINAL 1/3): Messi (29), Orellana (24), Suarez (23)
GOALS (OUTSIDE THE BOX): Messi (9), Aspas (4), Raul (4)
GOALS (DIRECT FREE-KICKS): Messi (6), Tello (3), Griezmann (3)
BRACES: Messi (7), Aspas (5), Stuani (5)
HAT-TRICKS: Messi (3), Ben Yedder (2), El-Nesyri (1)
WOODWORK HIT: Messi (10), Benzema (6), Marti (5)
PASSES (ENDING IN FINAL THIRD): Messi (1,139), Alba (872), Rakitic (750)
What's next?
Messi's spectacular exploits this season could earn him a number of individual awards, including the Ballon d'Or.
