Lionel Messi wins 4th European Golden Shoe award, equals Cristiano Ronaldo's record

Courtesy: Twitter (@FCBarcelona)

New Delhi: Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has picked up his fourth European Golden Shoe, thus equalling his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo as the award's record-holder on Friday.

The 30-year-old Argentine scored 37 goals in La Liga, and beat Dutch striker Bas Dost, who netted 34 for Sporting Lisbon in the Portuguese league. He had previously won the award for Europe's top scorer in 2010 (34), 2012 (50) and 2013 (46).

Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rounded out the top three with 31.

Real Madrid frontman Ronaldo won the award in 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2015, but this time, he failed to make the top five after scoring 25 league goals.

Messi was presented with the glittering trophy by his Barca team-mate Luis Suarez, who won the award last season with 40 goals.

The Golden Shoe is awarded by European Sports Media, an association of European sports newspaper and magazines.