Leo Messi closing in on his fourth European Golden Shoe

Week by week, game by game, Lionel Messi has proven he's a different type of player to the rest. 

The voracity of his achievements -- which could have been liquefied by the arrivals of Neymar and Luis Suarez, players he now shares goal scoring obligations with -- has no end. Sometimes he even seems to be asleep, but Messi always has an open eye to take advantage of the smallest loophole, like that predatory bird that launches upon its victims with accurate precision.

Taking into account that he builds play, assists and participates in the creation, too, then no-one can doubt that we are witnessing the most complete and decisive player in the world. 

Messi's influence on Barça's play does not diminish with the years, it increases. In La Liga, whether or not Luis Enrique's side go on to claim top spot this season, he has been absolutely brutal. He's close to winning the European Golden Shoe -- the award for the continent's top scorer -- for a fourth time. 

At the moment he leads the standings. Two points are awarded for a goal in the German, Spanish, English, Italian and Portuguese leagues. And in the French, Austrian, Belgian, Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, Scottish, Greek, Dutch, Israeli, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Serbain, Swiss, Turkish and Ukrainian leagues, each goal is worth 1.5 points. 

Messi, with two games to go in La Liga, leads the way with 35 goals, four more than his closest challenged: Sporting Lisbon's Dutch forward Bas Dost, who has 31. Therefore, Leo has 70 points. Keep in mind, for example, that Uruguayan Edison Cavani has 33 goals and still has two games to play in the French league, but goals in Ligue 1 are only worth 1.5 points. Therefore, he only has 49.5 points. 

Also trailing Messi are prolific marksmen such as the Belgian Romelu Lukaku, who plays for Ronald Koeman's Everton, and Aubameyang of Borussia Dortmund and Lewandowski of Bayern Munich. 

If Messi does win the prize for Europe's top scorer, he will take over from Luis Suarez, his team-mate who won it last year. He will also draw level with Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won the Golden Shoe more than any other player, on four (Ronaldo has three with Madrid and one with Manchester United). 

Messi is still the owner of an historic record which stands to this day: the 50 goals he scored in La Liga in 2011-12. There's still the chance for him to add more this season and improve his numbers, but it's unlikely -- impossible -- for him to match that mark. Las Palmas and Eibar are the sides he still has to face in the final games of the La Liga campaign.