No two players have ever dominated a league in the same way Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo slaughtered La Liga in their primes.
The pair have won 11 of the last 13 ‘Pichichi’ (top goalscorer) awards available, whilst Barcelona and Real Madrid have won all but two La Liga titles in this time.
Ronaldo left Madrid in 2018, while Messi finally left Barcelona in 2021. In that time, Messi won eight and Ronaldo won three of the last 13, with Messi first picking it up in 2010.
We’ve taken a look at the last six winners of the award who weren’t Messi or Ronaldo, and had to go back a fair few years…
Samuel Eto’o (2005-06)
Barcelona were imperious in the 2005-06 season, winning La Liga by 12 points and the Champions League with the likes of Ronaldinho, Henrik Larsson and Giovani van Bronckhorst in the team, and Eto’o was paramount to their success.
The Cameroonian striker scored 34 in all competitions, and 26 in the league. Eto’o won the Pichichi on the final day after scoring against Athletic Bilbao in a 3-1 loss, which meant he just eclipsed David Villa, who scored 25 for Valencia that season.
“It has been a team effort but only one person gets the award,” Eto’o stated after the game.
A worthy winner.
Ruud van Nistelrooy (2006-07)
The Dutchman signed for Real Madrid in the summer of 2006 for around £14million, after requesting to leave Manchester United, and hit the ground running.
Scoring 25 times in the league and 33 overall as Madrid stole the title from Barcelona, van Nistelrooy continued his brilliance from the Premier League in some style, equalling Hugo Sanchez’s longest scoring streak in La Liga, of 7 games in a row.
Diego Milito came second with 23 goals for Real Zaragoza in a tightly fought race, but the 31-year-old was simply sublime in his spell at Real.
READ: A tribute to Ruud van Nistelrooy and the playground art of goalhanging
Dani Guiza (2007-08)
A nice break from Barcelona and Real Madrid players hogging the award, Dani Guiza was a six-foot Spanish striker who had a ridiculous season for Mallorca in 2007-08.
Guiza scored 27 in 37 matches, and remarkably did not score a single penalty in that time. Luis Fabiano and Sergio Aguero were behind with 24 and 19 goals respectively, whilst Guiza’s Mallorca side finished second.
Guiza had signed for the club for £5million from Getafe at the start of the season for his second spell, but after this remarkable campaign, which saw him make the Spain squad for Euro 2008, he…
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