Lionel Messi receives Golden Shoe after stunning 36 La Liga goals last season

This is the sixth time the Argentinean has won the prestigious award [Courtefy AFP]

Lionel Messi was presented with the golden shoe award for the sixth time in his career on Wednesday afternoon following his stunning 36 league goals for Barcelona last season.

The award is won by the player to score the highest number of goals in Europe's top divisions in a season, and in the past it has been won by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo , Luis Suarez, Diego Forlan and Thierry Henry.

Messi beat PSG's Kylian Mbappe to the award by three goals in the 2018-2019 campaign, and he took to the stage at the Antigua Fabrica Estrella Damm in Barcelona to be presented with the prize, along with his wife Antonella Roccuzzo and sons Thiago and Mateo.

He also posed for pictures with all six of his Golden Shoes, and has won the award more than any other player, with Ronaldo in second place having won it four times.

This is also the third year in a row he has won the award, following 37 goals in the 2016-2017 season and 34 in 2017-2018.

After a start to the 2019-2020 campaign which has been hampered by injuries, however, Messi may struggle to live up to last season's achievements, and so far, he has only scored once in La Liga in three appearances, which came in Barcelona's last game, a 4-0 win over Sevilla.

He should be back in action when the Catalan club travel to Eibar on Saturday, and will then need to be at his best during El Clasico on Saturday 26 October.

Messi is the all-time top goalscorer in the history of the fixture, with 26 goals against Madrid, and would dearly love to add to that tally as his side look to get one over their old enemy.

It is currently unclear where the match will be played, however, with specualtion it would be switched from the Nou Camp to the Bernabeu amid political unrest in Catalonia.