Real Madrid’s star striker and captain Karim Benzema swept away with the La Liga’s Pichichi award for the league’s topscorer last season, but there is plenty of competition this season. La Liga has always been packed with excellent strikers, and the prolific skill set of Polish striker Robert Lewandowski has been added to the mix at Barcelona among established talents such as Benzema and Griezmann for the 2022-23 season.
The two strikers have been engaged in an epic duel to be crowned as the La Liga’s top scorer, with Lewandowski getting to work right away at his new club. A brace by the Pole (21 goals) not only sealed Barcelona’s La Liga title against Espanyol on Sunday, but it also put him on the brink of a La Liga top goalscorer crown.
La Liga top scorers 2022-23
Lewandowski put himself ahead of Benzema (17 goals), who won the Golden Boot last season. Benzema, 35, has lost substantial time this season owing to different fitness issues, but he has found himself right back in contention for the Pichichi. Enes Unal of Getafe scored his first goal since mid-March, dropping him to fourth on 14 goals, with Joselu of relegation-threatened Espanyol moving into third on 15.
It’s also worth noting how a four-goal performance against Real Madrid propelled Girona attacker Valentin ‘Taty’ Castellanos (12 goals) into the top ten. The latest top scorers table in La Liga is shown below, as the players compete for the renowned Pichichi trophy at the end of the season.
|
Rank |
Player | Club |
Goals |
|
1 |
Robert Lewandowski | Barcelona | 21 |
| 2 | Karim Benzema | Real Madrid |
17 |
|
3 |
Joselu | Espanyol | 15 |
| 4 | Enes Unal | Getafe |
14 |
|
5 |
Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid | 13 |
| 6 | Alvaro Morata | Atletico Madrid |
13 |
|
7 |
Vedat Muriqi | Mallorca | 13 |
| 8 | Valentin Castellanos | Girona |
13 |
|
9 |
Iago Aspas | Celta Vigo | 12 |
| 10 | Borja Iglesias | Real Betis |
12 |
Pichichi Award winner for 2021-22 season
For the first time since the 2016-17 season, the La Liga Pichichi award winner was someone not named as ‘Lionel Messi’. After the Argentine left Barcelona for PSG in the summer of 2021, Karim Benzema won the Golden Boot of the Spanish top flight with 27 goals, his first since joining Real Madrid.
The Real Madrid’s talisman was in sublime form as he led the Los Blancos to domestic and Champions League glory. The Frenchman won his first Ballon d’Or after ending the season with nine more goals than anybody else and one fewer assist than the league leader.
The leading goal scorer in Spain’s top flight receives the award from renowned sports publication Marca. The award, which is not officially acknowledged by La Liga, is named after Rafael ‘Pichichi’ Moreno, a former Athletic Club striker who played in the 1910s and 1920s. Since 1952-53, the Trofeo Pichichi has been presented yearly, with all leading scorers before to that season being deemed Pichichi champions retrospectively.