Lionel Messi news: Barcelona star is on the verge of creating history

What's the story?

Lionel Messi is on the verge of becoming the first player to win the European Golden Shoe for the third consecutive season.

In case you didn't know...

First introduced by L'Equipe during the 1967-68 season, European Golden Shoe is an award presented to the top goalscorer in all European leagues during a season, with a weighting in favour of the highest ranked leagues.

Lionel Messi won the award on five occasions, which is the most by any player ever who contested for the honour. He is being chased by Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the award four times. Nine other players won the award on two occasions.

Also, the award was not issued between 1991 and 1996, owing to a dispute between Cyprus FA and L'Equipe over the rightful winner of the accolade.

The heart of the matter

Barcelona's Lionel Messi is in a strong position to win his third consecutive European Golden Shoe, as he finished the 2018-19 season with a point tally of 36 goals. He is currently four goals ahead of PSG's Kylian Mbappe, who is on 32 goals, but with a game in hand.

The Frenchman has to score five goals in PSG's last game against Stade Reims on May 25 in order to stop Messi from creating history.

The Argentine international won the European Golden Shoe in the last two seasons after scoring 37 goals during the 2016/17 season and 34 goals during the 2017/18 season. He is also the only player to scored 50 goals in a league campaign, which he achieved during the 2011-12 season.

What's next?

Barcelona will next play Valencia at the Estadio Benito Villamarín in the final of the Copa del Rey on May 26.