Messi is about to catch up with Ronaldo in terms of total top scorer titles

The Barca striker is leading the La Liga scoring list this season by a large margin, and is also almost certain to win the fourth 'European Golden Shoe' award of his career.

Lionel Messi has scored 33 goals in La Liga this season, and he has four more games to improve his personal record. Next in the top scorer list is Luis Suarez (24 goals). Cristiano Ronaldo is in third place with 19 goals, and is unlikely to erase the 14-goal gap with the Argentine striker in his remaining five games for Real Madrid.

If Messi wins the Pichichi (La Liga top scorer) award this season, he will have been the top scorer in a major European league for a total of four times. That would be the same as Ronaldo (three Pichichis with Real, and one Premier League top scorer with Man Utd).

Messi needs another Golden Boot this season to catch up with Ronaldo as the top scorer in the national championship.

In terms of Pichichi alone, if Messi wins this season's race, he will be one more than Ronaldo, and only one less than the legends Hugo Sanchez, Quini, Di Stefano. The record holder of six Pichichis is Telmo Zara.

Ronaldo has received four yellow cards in the past time, so he will be suspended for one match if he receives another yellow card. This obstacle makes it almost impossible for the Portuguese striker to take the top spot from Messi in the Pichichi race this season.

If he wins the La Liga top scorer title this season, it will also mean Messi has won his fourth European Golden Shoe award, equaling Cristiano Ronaldo. No player in history has won more Golden Shoes than the two superstars of Real and Barca.

Messi now has a total of 66 points in the “European Golden Shoe” race (two points for each goal scored in La Liga), ahead of Sporting Lisbon’s Bas Dost (56 points) and Dortmund’s Emerick Aubameyang (54 points).

In the Champions League this season alone, Ronaldo scored five goals in the two quarter-final matches against Bayern. But his total of seven goals is still four behind the leading scorer of the tournament this season, Messi. This gap is not easy to catch up, because Real's opponent in the semi-finals, Atletico, is famous for its solid defense.

Thus, Messi is likely to win the treble of individual scoring awards this season: Pichichi (La Liga Top Scorer), European Golden Shoe, and Champions League Top Scorer.

According to VNE