Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski Beats Benzema to La Liga Award

• Robert Lewandowski won the Golden Boot in his first season in La Liga
• Lewandowski finished four goals clear of Real Madrid's Karim Benzema
• The Polish striker has now won 11 Golden Boot awards during his career

Robert Lewandowski ended his first season as a Barcelona player by winning La Liga's Golden Boot award on Sunday.

Lewandowski drew a blank in a 2-1 loss away at Celta Vigo, but the 34-year-old still finished the campaign with a haul of 23 goals in 34 league appearances.

That saw him finish four clear of Real Madrid's Karim Benzema, who could only record 19 goals in 24 games thanks to an injury-plagued season.

Lewa also finished seven goals clear of Espanyol’s Joselu Marto.

The Polish striker also won the Pichichi award without scoring a single penalty, becoming the first player to do so since Dani Guiza in the 2007-08 season, according to MisterChip.

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It is also the sixth straight season that Lewandowski has finished as the top scorer in his domestic league, having topped the standings in the Bundesliga prior to his move to Barcelona.

He ended the season with 33 goals across all competitions, including five scores in the UEFA Champions League, two in the Copa del Rey, two in the Supercopa, and one in the Europa League.

Lewandowski beats Benzema to award

As reported by Marca, Benzema had won the prize in the previous season with 27 goals, ending a five-year period of dominance by Lionel Messi.

Lewandowski has now won 11 Golden Boot awards from his career. The former Borussia Dortmund and Bayern goal-machine ended seven of his 12 seasons in Germany as the leading scorer in the Bundesliga.

He also won the UEFA Champions League's Golden Boot prize in 2019/20 when his 15 goals and six assists fired the Bavarians to European glory. His other two Golden Boots were won early on in his career in Poland.

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The first arrived in the 2007/08 campaign after Lewa netted 21 times for Znicz Pruszkow in the Polish second division. Two seasons later, he topped the scoring charts in the first division with 18 goals for Lech Poznan.

La Liga's final Pichichi rankings

1. Robert Lewadowski: 23 goals

2. Karim Benzema: 19 goals

3. Joselu Marto: 16 goals

4. Borja Iglesias: 15 goals

5. Antoine Griezmann: 15 goals

Lewandowski wants Messi at Barcelona

Previously, Sports Brief reported that Lewandowski expressed his desire for Messi to make a fairytale return to Barcelona this summer.

The Argentine departed Barcelona in 2021 due to the club's ailing financial situation, joining Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year contract.

A seven-time Ballon d'Or winner, Messi has now been urged to make a return to the Camp Nou after departing the French capital.