Diego Forlán scored his 32nd Liga goal of the season during Club Atlético de Madrid’s 3-0 win over UD Almería on Saturday to claim the ESM Golden Shoe as Europe’s top goalscorer as well as Spain’s Pichichi award for the second time.
The 30-year-old’s 50th-minute strike took his tally for the season to 32 in 33 appearances and equalled Prudencio Sánchez’s 1940/41 club record of scoring in eight successive league games. Forlán, who succeeds Cristiano Ronaldo as the ESM Golden Shoe winner, is the first player to score 30 goals or more in a Liga season since former FC Barcelona striker Ronaldo hit 34 in 1997. Forlán saw off the challenge of Samuel Eto’o, who finished second in the race for both awards and also signed off with a flourish with a late equaliser in Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with RC Deportivo La Coruña.
“I’m very happy because we qualified for the Champions League for the second consecutive year and because I won the Pichichi in a very strong Spanish league,” Forlán said after a victory that confirmed a fourth-place finish and a UEFA Champions League qualifying berth for Los Rojiblancos.
The former Manchester United FC player also won Spain’s top scorer accolade for Villarreal CF in 2004/05.
