Top 5 players who have scored the most late goals in Europe this season

#2 Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 6 late goals

Lionel Messi leads La Liga with 25 goals so far

Barcelona’s talisman Lionel Messi last won the Pichichi (most goals in a La Liga season) back in 2013. Since then it has been pretty much a two-horse race between Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez.

However, this season Messi has come back to the form that saw him win consecutive Ballon d’Or awards. The Argentine forward leads the Liga goalscoring charts with 25 goals so far, closely followed by Suarez on 23.

The Catalan club have been playing catch-up with Real Madrid for the majority of the season and they have Messi to thank for a number of late goals. His crucial winner in the 3-2 victory over Valencia came in the 94^th minute while his free-kick in the 90^th minute against Villarreal rescued a point. Osasuna and Espanyol have also suffered at his hands, er, feet.

A 90th-minute Messi penalty also saw Barcelona beat Leganes 2-1 while an 86th-minute winner helped Barcelona claim all three points against Atletico Madrid when Diego Simeone’s side looked certain to share the spoils.