The short answer
Luis Suárez won the 2015-16 Pichichi Trophy with 40 goals for Barcelona, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo on 35 and Lionel Messi on 26. It was the first time since 2008-09 that anyone other than Messi or Ronaldo had finished as La Liga's top scorer, and the 40 goals were also enough to win the European Golden Shoe.
On this page5
The 2015-16 scoring chart
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luis Suárez (URU) | Barcelona | 40 |
| 2 | Cristiano Ronaldo (POR) | Real Madrid | 35 |
| 3 | Lionel Messi (ARG) | Barcelona | 26 |
| =4 | Karim Benzema (FRA) | Real Madrid | 24 |
| =4 | Neymar (BRA) | Barcelona | 24 |
| 6 | Antoine Griezmann (FRA) | Atlético Madrid | 22 |
| 7 | Aritz Aduriz (ESP) | Athletic Bilbao | 20 |
| =8 | Gareth Bale (WAL) | Real Madrid | 19 |
| =8 | Rubén Castro (ESP) | Real Betis | 19 |
| 10 | Borja Bastón (ESP) | Eibar | 18 |
These are La Liga league goals only. Cup, European and international goals are excluded, which is the same counting convention that governs hat-tricks in La Liga — and the reason a player’s “goals in 2015-16” figure elsewhere will usually be considerably higher.
Why this season mattered
Between 2009 and 2015, La Liga’s top scorer was always Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Every season. Seven in a row.
Suárez’s 40 goals ended that. He became the first player other than Messi or Ronaldo to finish as La Liga’s leading scorer since 2008-09 — and he did it while playing in the same forward line as Messi and Neymar, who between them added another 50 league goals.
That is the detail worth sitting with. Barcelona’s front three scored 90 league goals between them in a single season, and the Pichichi went to the one who was, on reputation, the third name on the teamsheet.
The Pichichi, and what it actually is
The Pichichi Trophy is awarded to the leading goalscorer of each La Liga season. It has been presented by the Spanish newspaper Marca since 1952, and it is named after Rafael Moreno Aranzadi, the Athletic Bilbao forward known as Pichichi.
Two things follow from that history.
It is a newspaper’s award, not the league’s. Like several of European football’s best-known individual honours, the Pichichi is a media institution that became official by consensus rather than by statute — the same pattern as the Ballon d’Or.
It counts league goals only. No cup, no Europe, no internationals. A player can score fifty in a season across all competitions and not win it.
Messi holds the record with eight Pichichi wins.
The Golden Shoe, too
Suárez’s 40 goals were also enough for the European Golden Shoe, the award for Europe’s leading league scorer across all top divisions.
The two awards are calculated differently. The Pichichi is a straight count within one league; the Golden Shoe applies a weighting by league strength, so goals in stronger divisions are worth more points. Winning both in the same season means a total high enough to survive that weighting — in 2015-16 nobody in Europe beat it.
A note on this page
This article replaces an earlier SportsGoogly page at the same URL, rewritten from scratch. The original URL was preserved because Wikipedia cites it in two languages — the Arabic and Turkish lists of La Liga top scorers both use it as the source for Suárez’s 2015-16 total.
That is the reason this page exists at this address rather than a tidier one. Our research and sourcing policy treats a live encyclopedia citation as something to serve, not to redirect away.
The figures here are final. This is a completed season, the record is closed, and nothing on this page should ever need updating.
More permanent record pages sit in reference.
Frequently asked questions
Who was La Liga's top scorer in 2015-16?
Luis Suárez of Barcelona, with 40 goals in the league. Cristiano Ronaldo was second on 35 and Lionel Messi third on 26.
What is the Pichichi Trophy?
The award given to the leading goalscorer of each La Liga season. It has been presented by the Spanish newspaper Marca since 1952, and is named after Rafael Moreno Aranzadi, the Athletic Bilbao forward nicknamed Pichichi.
Why was Suárez winning the Pichichi significant?
Because it ended a duopoly. He was the first player other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to finish as La Liga's top scorer since the 2008-09 season — seven consecutive campaigns in which the award went to one of those two.
Did Suárez win the European Golden Shoe in 2015-16?
Yes. His 40 La Liga goals were enough to win the European Golden Shoe as well as the Pichichi, meaning no player in any top European league scored more that season on the Golden Shoe's weighted calculation.
How many goals did Messi score in 2015-16?
Twenty-six in the league, placing him third. It was an unusually low total by his standards, and injury restricted his appearances that season.
Do cup and European goals count towards the Pichichi?
No. The Pichichi counts La Liga league goals only. Copa del Rey, Champions League, Supercopa and international goals are all excluded, which is why a player's total across all competitions is usually much higher.
Sources
Related
- Hat-Tricks in La Liga History: The Complete Record
- The 10 Fastest 100m Sprinters in History
- Cristiano Ronaldo's Charity Work: What Is Documented, and What Was Invented
- Grand Slam Women's Singles Champions: The Full Record, and the Era Problem
- The Strongest Rugby Players: What the Evidence Actually Shows