London, May 14

The Barcelona forward has claimed the accolade for the continent’s top league goalscorer, bagging himself a half century of strikes during the 2011-12 season

Lionel Messi has won the European Golden Shoe award as the continent’s top scorer. The Argentine superstar scored an incredible 50 league goals over the campaign, and finished the season four goals clear of nearest rival Cristiano Ronaldo in La Liga.

Messi failed to find the net on Saturday, as Barcelona drew 2-2 with Real Betis in Pep Guardiola’s final league game in charge of the Catalans. But he could not be caught by Ronaldo, who netted just the one as Real Madrid beat Malaga 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Robin van Persie ended the term on 30 goals, but failed to find the net as Arsenal beat West Brom 3-2 at the Hawthorns to confirm the Gunners place in the Champions League next season.

The Bundesliga came to a close last weekend, where Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Mario Gomez finished on 29 and 26 goals respectively.

In fifth place, Zlatan Ibrahimovic became the first person to win the capocannoniere (Serie A’s top scorer award) with two different clubs as he ended his campaign with 28 goals for Milan, despite not scoring in their 2-1 win at home to Novara.

Wayne Rooney came in closely behind with 27 goals, as he bagged the winner in Manchester United’s 1-0 win at Sunderland.