La Liga 2016/17: Top 5 Contenders for the Pichichi Trophy

Spain’s top scorer is a trophy that’s highly coveted – the last few years have been exchanged between two of the greatest footballers of our generation (any generation, for that matter) like it’s a toy in a kid store... each of them have won it twice. All was fun and frolic till Luis Suarez decided to announce himself to Spain last year – smashing in 35 goals at 1.1. goals per game.

Fun fact – the last non-Messi, non-Ronaldo (ergo, normal being) to win the Pichichi was the great Uruguayan Diego Forlan.

Notable absentees – Gareth Bale’s various injury ailments have prevented him from hitting any semblance of form and his record of 7 goals speaks for itself. Karim Benzema’s 9 goals are nowhere near good enough either to make the cut.

The bottom half of the top 10 highlights the domination of the Basque clubs in the middle of the table -their battle (including Villareal and fellow Basques Eibar) has proven to be one of the highlights of the season and their marksmen Willian Jose and Aritz Aduriz are in the thick of the action. Also coming into the fray are Barcelona reject Sandro Ramirez whose goals have lifted Malaga into safety, Kevin Gameiro whose goals have come in fits and bursts, Gerard Moreno who has headlined a pretty decent season for Espanyol and the inimitable Alvaro Morata who always delivers when given a chance. In fact, the Real Madrid marksman’s mins per goal ratio is better than anybody on this list, except for the man who is no.1

#10, Neymar – 13 goals

Club – Barcelona

Assists – 11

Shots on target – 53%; Minutes per goal – 197; Minutes played – 2562

#10. Gerard Moreno – 13 goals

Club – Espanyol

Assists – 4

Shots on target – 47%; Minutes per goal - 245; Minutes played – 3100

#8. Sandro Ramirez – 14 goals

Club – Malaga

Assists – 3

Shots on target – 60%; Minutes per goal – 160; Minutes played – 2246

#7. Alvaro Morata – 16 goals

Club – Real Madrid

Assists – 4

Shots on target – 60%; Minutes per goal – 84; Minutes played – 1254

#5 Aritz Aduriz – 16 goals

Club – Athletic Bilbao

Assist – 1

Shots on target – 61%; Minutes per goal -146; Minutes played – 2340

#5. Antoine Griezmann – 16 goals

Los Rojiblanco’s superstar-in-chief epitomizes the season that Atleti have been having. Although having started the campaign like an old scooter that had been forgotten and stored away in your garage, they’ve powered through the final stretch with some rather impressive performances in the calendar year 2017 (no, no, don’t judge them by their Champions League performances) and the Frenchman has been in hot goal scoring form.

His assists column also shows just how valuable an all-around player he is, and there is no denying that if he is arguably the most likely candidate to break the Messi-Ronaldo hegemony on the “Best Player of the Year Awards”.

It’s his poor start that looks likely to cost him a podium finish (as his woeful mins per goal ratio indicates) but he’ll be looking to make sure Atleti seal third place in the coming weeks.

Club – Atletico Madrid

Assists – 7

Shots on target – 60%

Minutes per goal – 181

Mins played – 2900

#4. Iago Aspas – 18 goals

The ex-Liverpool winger has been a revelation this season and although he’s been rested domestically (look at how much lower his mins played are than the rest of the top 5) he’s had a big impact in La Liga and 18 goals is a superb return for a man who was never known as a goalscorer extradornaire.

His incsive running on the right (ably supported by club captain and right fullback Hugo Mallo) and tendency to cut inside and go for goal have helped Celta punch above their weights in the big games.

The Europa League disappointment, combined with the second half collapse domestically (fuelled by Eduardo Berizzo’s desire to concentrate in Europe and the harm that does to a stretched out squad) means that the Galician club will end up a dejected outfit – but take nothing away from their local boys’ best individual season ever.

Club – Celta Vgo

Assists – 3

Shots on target – 59%

Mins per goal – 120

Mins played – 2166

#3. Cristiano Ronaldo – 22 goals

Phenomenon. Miracle-worker. Superstar. Best big game player in the world. Call him what you will, but ignoring the importance of the great Portuguese to Real Madrid. His brace yesterday took him to 401 goals (in just 390 games!) and if it were not for the fact that he’s been rested against the lower table teams toward the end of this season he would easily be challenging for the Pichichi once again.

Factor in the fact that he had a very slow start to the season (as he recovered from that injury he suffered in the final of Euro 2016) and the fact that he’s already reached the 20 goal landmark speaks volumes of his ability to bounce back.

With two games left, and Ronaldo likely to feature in both he could well buff up those numbers before the season is out.

Assists – 6

Shots on target – 45%

Mins per goal – 108

Mins played – 2370

#2. Luis Suarez – 28 goals

Luis Suarez hasn’t had the best of seasons has he? By common consensus this one has been one of the Uruguayan’s worst seasons since he’s climbed the plinth to the very top of the footballing world. And yet he’s scored nearly 30 goals at a little under a goal-a-game

His running and effort as ever have been faultless but the main accusations levelled at him is that his scoring hasn’t been upto the standards of ruthlessness he’s set himself. This. though, should not be cause for disheartenment for Barcelona fans – Luis Suarez is never better than when he has the world against him, when he has to go out there and prove that he’s still got it... you can bet your house that Pichichi trophy will be in his targets next season

Assists – 13

Shots on target – 59%

Mins per goal – 99

Mins played – 2773

#1. Lionel Messi – 35 goals

Surprise! Guess who’s number 1!!

Lionel Messi has been phenomenal yet again this season – his quite marvellous brace in El Clasico will live long in the memory – and he’s looked like he’s been carrying Barcelona on his back at times. The sheer efficiency of the man boggles the mind – a goal every 78 minutes is just the most ludicrous stat you’ll see all season. Considering his’e been one of La Liga’s most ever-present players it’s no wonder that he’s so far ahead of the competition.

He’s also got 9 assists which means the man’s got a hand in 44 Barcelona league goals... 9^th place Alaves hasn’t scored that many this entire season. I suspect the most important piece of business that will take place in the Barcelona boardroom will be the packaging of the deal that will see to it that Lionel Messi doesn’t leave.

Assists – 9

Shots on target – 58%

Mins per goal – 78,

Mins played – 2742