Messi racing towards his sixth Golden Shoe: he leads Mbappé by three goals
Following his hat trick against Betis, Messi takes his tally in LaLiga to 29 goals, while Mbappé, who only scored one against Olympique de Marseille is on 26.
Leo Messi is on course for collecting his sixth Golden Shoe award. The three goals he scored last night against Betis, which earned him an ovation not just from Barça's travelling supports but also by the home crowd at the Benito Villamarín, helped him to move away from his nearest rival - PSG's Kylian Mbappé. Mbappé was on target in the 3-1 win over Olympique de Marseille, but is now three goals behind Messi whose tally in LaLiga stands at 29 while Mbappé is on 26.
Quagliarella, Cristiano and Piatek fall behind
In third place and well off the pace is Sampdoria's Fabio Quagliarella on 21 goals. Now practically out of the running are Cristiano Ronaldo and Krzysztof Piatek - both on 19 goals.
There are 10 games left to play to decide who wins this year's Golden Shoe, and it's starting to look like Mbappé is the only one whoc could challenge Messi for the trophy. If Messi goes on to top the European goal scoring ranking, it will be the third year running he has collected the award and the sixth Golden Shoe of his career. He is already the player to have won the award more times than anyone else.