Barcelona star Lionel Messi has won his sixth Golden Shoe award at a ceremony in Madrid on Wednesday.

It is the third successive year that the Argentine maestro has scooped the award for the most goals by a player in a major league, while he also won the gong in 2010, 2012 and 2013.

The award has been won by a Spain-based player in each of the last 11 seasons – with Cristiano Ronaldo winning three (and a further one at Manchester United in 2008) while Diego Forlan, then at Atletico Madrid, collecting the honour in 2009.

Messi praised his teammates for helping him achieve the feat: “Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba, who are here, are two of the biggest reasons why I can receive this award. Without my team I could never have won one, this is a trophy for everyone, a recognition of the entire dressing room.

“The Champions League is something special and every year we want to win it, but we are aware that La Liga is the most important thing.

“It is what leads you to performing well in the Copa del Rey and in La Liga. We are at Barcelona and we aim to win everything.”

Messi netted 36 La Liga goals last season – meaning he earned 72 points in the system for winning the award – having scored 34 and 37 times in each of the previous two seasons, with his record being 50 in the 2011-12 campaign.