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What's the story?
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has been presented his record sixth Golden Shoe award, having netted 36 times in the Spanish League last season. The 32-year-old bagged the prestigious award for the third consecutive year after scoring 34 and 37 goals respectively during the two previous seasons.
In case you didn't know...
European Golden Shoe is awarded by European Sports Media to the leading goal-scorer in league matches from the top divisions of every European national league. The award is given based on a point system in which the number of goals is multiplied with the league ranking on the UEFA coefficients.
Lionel Messi has won the most number of Golden shoe, having claimed six, followed by Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo with four. The La Liga has dominated the awards in recent time with 12 of the last 15 winners coming from the Spanish League.
The heart of the matter
Messi was awarded a record sixth Golden Shoe award at the Antigua Fabrica Estrella Damm in Barcelona. The Argentine secured the award after scoring 36 goals for Barcelona last season, three goals ahead of French sensation Kylian Mbappe and 10 ahead of veteran Italian striker Fabio Quagliarella.
The forward was first awarded the prize in 2010 after scoring 34 goals in Barcelona's treble-winning season under Pep Guardiola. The little magician secured his second in 2012 after scoring a record 50 goals and the third the season after with 46 goals.
What's next
It has not been the brightest of starts for the Barcelona captain this season. The forward has scored just once in three appearances for the Blaugrana after an injury-hit start to the season.
Barcelona will be hoping to see their talisman back to his best once the league restarts after the international break.
