Lionel Messi breaks Cristiano Ronaldo record

Lionel Messi and longstanding rival Cristiano Ronaldo battle each other regularly for spectacular goalscoring records, and the FC Barcelona superstar has now beaten the Real Madrid talisman to an impressive milestone.

The Argentine finished the 2017/18 campaign with 34 league goals, more than any other player in Europe, earning himself the ESM Golden Shoe.

His 34 strikes equate to 68 points in the Golden Shoe ranking, as many as Messi had achieved when he won the award for the first time in 2009/10.

Overall, the latest accolade is his fifth Golden Shoe, breaking the record he previously held jointly with Ronaldo, and more than any other player in the history of the award.

Messi lifted the top goalscorer in Europe award in 2009/10 (34 goals), 2011/12 (50 goals), 2012/13 (46 goals), 2016/17 (37 goals) and this campaign with 34 strikes.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, won his first Golden Shoe in 2007/08, when he scored 31 league goals for Manchester United. He claimed his first top marksman award with Los Blancos three years later, finishing the 2010/11 campaign with 40 strikes.

In addition, he also won the Golden Shoe in 2013/14, sharing the award with Luis Suarez (then still at Liverpool), with both having scored 31 times. Ronaldo’s fourth Golden Shoe came in 2014/15, when he netted 48 goals in LaLiga.

Over the past 10 years, only Suarez has managed to beat the two superstars to the European Golden Shoe, claiming it in 2015/16 with 40 goals.