Lionel Messi wins golden boot despite problematic season for Barcelona

FC Barcelona captain Lionel Messi won his seventh golden boot after finishing the La Liga season with a total of 25 goals. His last two goals came during last night's 5-0 victory against Deportivo Alaves, which effectively closed the season.

Messi finished 4 goals ahead of closest contender, Karim Benzema, who made a late attempt to win the award. However, the Frenchman fell short after failing to score in Real Madrid's 2-2 draw against Leganes in their final fixture.

It was a dominant victory for Barcelona, with Ansu Fati, Luis Suarez and Nelson Semedo contributing their own goals to Messi's brace. Nevertheless, the resounding victory held little value as Real Madrid had already secured the La Liga title ahead of the final set of matches.

It has been a turbulent season for Messi and Barcelona. Despite winning the golden boot, BBC reports that this is also a a low-scoring year for the Argentine forward. In fact, it has been 12 years since the last time that La Liga's top scorer scored less than 30 goals.

There is massive discontent at the Nou Camp, after they failed to hold on to the lead that they had before the league was suspended back in March. Real Madrid was trailing two points behind the Catalans when the season resumed in June. Since then, Real Madrid won 10 out of their 11 remaining matches. Meanwhile, Barcelona drew three matches and lost one, effectively handing their rivals the title with a match to spare.

Now that La Liga is done and dusted, they have their sights set on the UEFA Champions League. They are set to face Italian side Napoli in the second leg of their round-of-16 encounter. The score currently stands at 1-1, and Messi thinks that things need to change drastically if they want to advance.

After an impressive victory in their final La Liga match, some confidence must have been restored. However, it is widely believed that coach Quique Setien's neck is on the line and the Napoli game will be crucial to determine his future. It remains to be seen if the manager and his players can deliver on August 8.