Alexander Sørloth will never forget his Matchday 37 performance against Real Madrid. The Norwegian entered the penultimate round of the season in great form and competing for the 2023/24 Pichichi Trophy, but not even in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that he would score four times against the champions to surge to the top of the LALIGA EA SPORTS goalscoring charts.
Yet, that's exactly what happened, as the 28-year-old fired past Andriy Lunin in the 39th, 48th, 52nd and 56th minutes of the match, leading his side back from 4-1 down to take a 4-4 draw against Los Blancos with two headers and then two left-footed finishes on counter attacks. It's only the second time in his career that he has scored four goals in one game, after previously doing so in a 2015 game for FK Bodø/Glimt.
Although the day's results meant Villarreal CF cannot now qualify for European football, it was clear to see at the full-time whistle that the fans were delighted for their striker. Sørloth now has the chance to become the first Villarreal CF player to win the Pichichi Trophy since Diego Forlán did so in 2004/05, and supporters of a certain age will recall that the Uruguayan achieved that honour thanks to a penultimate round hat-trick of his own.
Back then, Forlán entered the 2004/05 Matchday 37 some four goals behind Samuel Eto'o in that year's Pichichi race, but the centre-forward scored all three of Villarreal CF's goals in a 3-3 draw against that year's champions, FC Barcelona. That brought him to within one of Eto'o, before Forlán scored a brace in the final round against Levante UD to take the prestigious prize.
Now that Sørloth has produced a similarly spectacular penultimate round performance against the champions of Spain, Villarreal CF fans hope he can maintain or extend his lead at the top of the scoring charts next weekend, when Villarreal CF visit CA Osasuna.
Sørloth has 23 goals to his name now and his closest challenger is Girona FC's Artem Dovbyk, on 21. The Catalan side have a home game against second-bottom Granada CF, so Dovbyk has an excellent opportunity ahead of him, but everything Sørloth is touching right now seems to be turning to gold and he'll feel similarly confident about taking on CA Osasuna and continuing his Midas touch.
Incredibly, 17 of the Norwegian forward's 23 league goals have come during the second half of the campaign, so he is absolutely the most in-form striker in the country right now. After moving from Real Sociedad to Villarreal CF last summer, it did take a while for him to settle in and to win over the trust of the coaching staff. During one 0-0 draw with Cádiz CF, Marcelino substituted the striker at half-time and then sent the striker a message through the media: “In 45 minutes you didn't manage a shot on goal when you had plenty of time to do so. If you don't do that then the coach will take decisions. There's a need to make the most of every minute."
Move forward a few months and Sørloth is absolutely making the most of his minutes on the pitch. He has earned praise from Marcelino too, with the tactician labelling the striker as “stratospheric" following his display on Sunday.
If Sørloth wants to truly enter a different stratosphere and forever ink his name in the LALIGA EA SPORTS history books, then he has a unique opportunity ahead of him next weekend. Never before has a Norwegian won the Pichichi Trophy and only once before has a Villarreal CF player done so. That man was Diego Forlán and Sørloth is following in his footsteps.
