Lionel Messi picked up his fifth Pichichi prize in Barcelona at the MARCA awards on Monday and revealed he is happy to see how competitive La Liga is this season.
Barcelona had been four points clear ahead of the weekend, but lost 4-3 to Betis at Camp Nou in a thrilling match on Sunday afternoon as Messi returned from injury.
Receiving his award for the competition’s top scorer last season, he said: “La Liga is more competitive than ever and that’s good. It’s never easy. Anybody can beat anybody and let’s hope it continues like that for some time.”
Asked to name his most memorable goal from last term, the Argentine said: “There’s not one in particular. I always look at the importance of the goals more than their beauty.”
Messi returned to action against Betis following a three-week absence after fracturing his arm in the 4-2 win over Sevilla last month.
“I was a little bit scared about my elbow because I hadn’t had much contact,” he admitted.
“But as the game wore on, I got more into it. I was looking forward to being back out on the pitch.”
The 31-year-old was also asked what it was like to watch from the sidelines with his son Thiago during his time out and said: “I love watching games with him!
"I was surprised because he understands so many facets of the game and it's the first time I've been able to share something like that with him.”
