Amid the disappointment of not defending the La Liga crown this season, Barcelona captain Lionel Messi moved quickly from the stumble and concluded the league campaign as the scoring champion for the seventh time. Messi's sight is now set on the Champions League.
Barcelona overwhelmed Deportivo Alaves, 5-0, in the club's final La Liga match for the season. Messi fired in two goals in the game that saw his season total to 25 goals in 33 league appearances. The Argentine finished four goals ahead of Real Madrid's Karim Benzema, thus making him the Pichichi winner in the season.
The award is No. 7 for the Barca superstar, and according to Yahoo Sports, the feat allowed Messi to overtake Telmo Zarra, who collected six of the Pichichi award starring for Athletic Bilbao.
The season also ended with Messi boasting of 21 assists and his efforts erased the record set by Barcelona great Xavi in season 2009-2009.
The La Liga campaign, however, did not totally agree with how Messi plotted it to be. The 33-year-old was looking to secure a third title in a row for the Catalans but rival Real Madrid already captured the crown last week with still a game to spare.
The sorry ending came at a time that Camp Nou has been wracked by internal strife and with Messi picking up a fight with Barca executives on several occasions. Also, losing the crown further fired up the rumors that the forward could soon walk out of the side he had played with for nearly two decades.
However, Messi seemed more focused now on the good things that lie ahead. Barcelona will face Napoli on August 8 and the Barca captain said winning the Champions League has to be the priority now.
The six-time Ballon d'Or winner praised the attitude and commitment displayed by his teammates in the last game, adding that what the team has shown should be the way forward, according to Give Me Sport.
"We leave with better feelings thinking about the Champions League," Messi was reported as saying.
The captain is more concerned about winning trophies for the club and personal honors only come as secondary. He admitted that winning the Pichichi would have been sweeter had the La Liga title came with the trophy, which the case last year.
Still, Messi seemed optimistic that 2020 will close out favorably for Barcelona and him. The Argentine is shooting for another Champions League victory in Lisbon as the title was last won by the Catalan giants in 2015.
It's highly likely too that Ballon No. 7 could come later this December as the latest ranking of the award placed Messi at No. 3, and the standing could be boosted by a triumphant showing in the Champions League.
