Messi, leader of the most attainable 'Pichichi' since 2006-07

The fight for this season's Pichichi looks set to be a head-to-head battle between Leo Messi and Karim Benzema, with 14 and 13 goals each, respectively.

Few goals in this goalscoring ranking. In fact, the last season in which, at this point, after 23 matches, there was a maximum scorer with worse figures was in the season 2006-07, as 'Marca' points out.

In that season, Diego Milito was the first, with 13 goals, followed by Van Nistelrooy (11). In the end, the Dutch striker won the coveted 'Pichichi", scoring 25 goals and winning the league with Real Madrid.

It has been an unusually bad season for Barcelona's usual goalscorer, Leo Messi, who's on his worst moments in LaLiga in three campaigns. The Argentine has wowed fans season after season with his impossible numbers, which means any kind of slowdown would be noticed despite his frequent assists this season.

The 'Pichichi' of LaLiga has returned to numbers of when it was led by the Forlán, Luis Fabiano or Raúl González. In the 2008-09 season, in a hard fought title, with Güiza taking the award (24 goals).

In addition, it is worth noting the low number of goals in the First Division. The absence of Cristiano Ronaldo is once again evident. A total of 583 goals have been scored in the 23 rounds, compared with more than 600 when Messi faced the Portuguese in the tournament.

Of all the major European leagues, only Ligue 1 makes these Spanish League figures worse. The French championship, after 23 rounds, was ten goals behind. Serie A, the most prolific, with 671 goals