Highlights:
- Lionel Messi becomes the only player in Primera history to win Pichichi trophy for the 7th time
- Lionel Messi shared he would rather win La Liga than win Pichichi trophy the eighth time
The 33 year old Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi has now won the prestigious Pichichi trophy for the 7th time which is more than any other player in the history of Primera, however, he is not thinking about the eighth one next year.
Messi, on Tuesday, was presented with the Pichichi trophy for the record seventh time, however, the Argentine insists that he would trade in the eighth trophy for the chance of winning the La Liga trophy again.
The Pichichi trophy has been named for the legendary Athletic sharpshooter Rafael Moreno Aranzadi and is handed out annually to the top scorer in Spain’s top league.
Barcelona star Lionel Messi and then-Real Madrid player Cristiano Ronaldo regularly battled it out to win the Oichichi trophy but ever since his move to Juventus in 2018, the Argentine has won it on both occasions, most recently came from his 33 goals in the 2019-202 season for the Catalans.
The seventh success in winning the Pichichi trophy took him ahead of Telmo Zarra making Messi the player with most Pichichi trophy wins, however, this was insufficient as Madrid beat Barcelona to clinch the La Liga title.
Also Read: Liverpool FC Could Sell “Unhappy” Salah, Says Retired Footballer Mohamed Aboutrika
As Barcelona are off pace in the 2020-21 season and Messi having scored just 6 goals in La Liga till date this season, there is no doubt that the team must come above his individual accolades.
Upon receiving the 7th Pichichi trophy, Messi tol Marca, “An eighth Pichichi? I don’t know, nor am I thinking about it, it is not something I am worried or obsessed about”.
“I would prefer to win La Liga before getting the Pichichi, we are fighting towards that.
“We are slowly growing. We struggled to get going in the league, nor did we deserve to drop all those points, we could have won several of those games, like at Alaves, Getafe, Real Madrid…
“We created a lot of chances, that would have changed the situation, but we have to put together a run of good games to get ourselves back at the top,” said Messi.
One of the most memorable goals from Messi this season of La Liga came against Osasuna when after netting the fourth goal in the game which they won 4-0, Messi took off his shirt to reveal a vintage Newell’s Old Boy’s top as a way to pay tribute to the late Diego Maradona, one of the best footballers from Argentina to have ever played this game.
Messi said, “It was a very special day, I was able to dedicate to him that little tribute I had prepared,” Messi said of his celebration.
“Scoring that day is a nice memory and it was a very special day because of all the significance of Diego no longer being with us.”
Spain’s giant football club Barcelona trail the join-La Liga leaders Real and Atletico Madrid by 8 points and will face Valladolid on Wednesday at 2:30 AM IST.
