Suarez Shines As Barca Rules La Liga

Luis Suarez won the Pichichi award becoming the first winner other than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo since 2009.

 

BARCELONA striker Luis Suarez has become the first La Liga player to top both the scoring and assist charts in a single season.

The former Liverpool striker finished the campaign with 40 goals,as against Ronaldo’s 35.

The Uruguayan yesterday scored a hat trick in the last La Liga game against Granada, just as his side smiled home with the trophy, with Real Madrid finish­ing second on the log.

Though Liga BBVA only started recording assists in 2004, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had never reached the double feat, with Xavi and Me­sut Ozil preventing the duo from ever picking up a clean sweep.

Suarez’s scoring exploits throughout the season also see the attacker becoming the Bar­ca’s highest-scoring Uruguayan of all time.

Suarez is also the first player other than Ronaldo or Messi to finish as La Liga’s top scorer since Diego Forlan in 2008/09.

For Barcelona, yesterday’s victory was her 24th La Liga title.

Real registered her 12th consecutive La Liga win, 2-0 at Deportivo la Coruna thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s double, but finished a point behind Barca.

Barca had seemed set to cruise to the title until a run of three consecutive defeats for the first time in 13 years last month.

However, the Catalan giants bounced back like champions as, inspired by Suarez’s 14 goals, scoring 24 times without reply in the last five games to win the title.

Madrid’s record 12-game winning streak to end the season wasn’t enough to overcome the 12-point deficit she faced to Barca back in March.

However, victory secured sec­ond place ahead of Champions League final opponent Atletico Madrid, whilst Ronaldo moved past the 50 goal mark for the sixth consecutive season.