LaLiga top scorers chart has a different look this season

Following the international break we head into LaLiga matchday 12 with some tasty fixtures to look forward to. The standout game is clearly Atlético Madrid vs Real Madrid in what is the first ever derby in the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano and some key figures will be looking to get on the scoresheet in the capital as well as around the rest of the country. As our very own Mayca Jiménez points out, the scoring charts are rather interesting.

Cristiano, Messi and Suárez: the Pichichi standard

This season's list of LaLiga scorers has a distinct look about it with fewer players from Barcelona and Real Madrid than we've come to expect. In fact, since the 2008-09 season - when Diego Forlán finished as top scorer with 32 goals for Atlético Madrid - there hasn't been a top scorer outwith these teams. Across this period the domination has been further defined by just a few players, alternating from Madrid with Cristiano Ronaldo in 3 seasons to Barcelona's Lionel Messi with four campaigns and one for Luis Suárez. Looking past the top scorer, those represented on the Pichichi podium since 2008-09 have always been from Los Blancos or the blaugrana.

Barça's Messi and the assorted chasing pack

So, taking stock of the current season, granted just 11 games in, we see that there is only one player from either of the big two listed in the top five scorers. Messi, who with 12 goals is the league's leading scorer but you then have to go down to joint seventh to locate the first Madrid player. There Isco and Marco Asensio sit on four goals, along with ten others who have notched as many.

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The goals scorers at the top of the list show a distribution of players across 7 different teams: Barcelona, Valencia, Villarreal, Real Betis, Real Sociedad, Girona and Celta Vigo. Behind Messi, (it's maybe worth noting that Barça's next best is one of the summer's new recruits, Paulinho, with just three goals), are Zaza (9), Bakambu (8), Sanabria and Rodrigo with seven goals apiece, and Oyarzabal, Stuani and Aspas, who each have six.

More reading: Valencia's Zaza says "Messi doesn't count"

Cristiano and Suárez slumps

Players tipped by many to be challenging Messi for the top scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suárez, are both suffering a bad run at the moment. Barça's Uruguayan striker finished top of the pile in 2015-16 and was second highest scorer last season, while Cristiano has never fallen out of the top three since his arrival at Real Madrid in 2009, being top gun in this ranking three times. Fans of both clubs, as well as anyone with a related pre-season Pichichi flutter, will be hoping they find their shooting boots sooner rather than later.

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