Messi wins European Golden Shoe after winning Pichichi

Lionel Messi is set to be confirmed as the winner of the 2017-18 European Golden Shoe after smashing 34 goals for Barcelona in their Liga-winning campaign,National Daily learnt.

Messi came off the bench late as Barca rounded off their season with victory over Real Sociedad at Camp Nou, with the Argentine also claiming the Pichichi Trophy for the top goalscorer in the Primera Division.

The Argentine’s 34 Liga goals translate to a Golden Shoe score of 68 based on the league’s coefficient, leaving him clear of nearest challengers Mohamed Salah (32/64) and Harry Kane (30/60).

But the Premier League’s early finish meant Liverpool and Tottenham’s star strikers had no chance of catching him up, leaving two Serie A strikers as his closest active challengers at the weekend.

Ciro Immobile and Mauro Icardi both finished the Serie A season on 29 goals after they met in the dramatic clash between Lazio and Inter on the final day of the season, but both were well off Messi in the final reckoning.