Spanish La Liga: How the top flight Golden Boot is shaping up

From Left: Barcelona Argentine Pro forward Lionel Messi and Real Madrid French Pro striker Karim Benzema. Barcelona are Spanish La Liga toppers with 58 points, two points atop Real Madrid who have 56 points. Photo of Messi: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images. Photo of Benzema: Silvestre Szpylma/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

Video 👇 La Liga football will return this evening when Sevilla host local rivals Real Betis, more than three months after the last piece of Spanish top-flight action.

Spain was hit worse than most by the deadly coronavirus pandemic, but elements of life are beginning to return to normal and the resumption of La Liga will come as welcome news to football fans up and down the country.

A number of issues must still be determined - including the title race, top-four battle and relegation scrap - as the division heads in to a packed period of 110 games in just 39 days.

On an individual level there are accolades to determine too, most notably the Golden Boot race for the league's top scorer.

The Battle for Golden Boot as top flight football restarts in Spain

It is no surprise to see Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi at the top of the standings once again, despite missing a significant chunk of the campaign through injury.

The Argentine, who is now 127 goals clear of Cristiano Ronaldo as La Liga's leading scorer of all time, has added 19 to his tally from just 22 top-flight outings this term.

Messi is currently five goals clear of his closest competitor - Real Madrid's Karim Benzema - and so looks destined for a fourth straight La Liga Golden Boot, which is something only Hugo Sanchez and Alfredo Di Stefano have managed before.

Behind the Real Madrid forward are three players all on 11 goals apiece - Luis Suarez, who is now fit again after injury, Lucas Perez and Gerard Moreno.

Messi, predictably, has the best minutes-per-goal ratio of anyone to have netted two or more times in the division this season, scoring on average once every 99 minutes.

SPANISH	LA LIGA	2019-2020
PLAYER	TEAM	GOALS
Lionel Messi	Barcelona	19
Karim Benzema	Real Madrid	14
Gerard Moreno	Villarreal	11
Lucas Pérez	Alaves	11
Luis Suarez	Barcelona	11

Brazilian former Pro footballer Rivaldo claims Messi takes all the credit at Barcelona and makes it difficult for other players to shine.

Even Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk once confessed he can't stop Messi alone.

Video: Barcelona tweeted that Messi is "too good" 👇