The voters decided that his six goals last month - including a hat trick against Granada along with goals against Athletic Bilbao, Málaga and Atlético de Madrid - were worthy of recognition, although quite why none of his other achievements have merited the same award since it was invented in September 2013 is a mystery.
Messi scored six times that month, nine times in March 2014 (including consecutive hat-tricks), five in October 2014, nine the following month, seven in February 2015 and four times last December.
Yet none of those achievements were considered significant enough to take the award.
Indeed, conspiracy theorists - and there are plenty of those around Spanish football - might suspect that Messi's non-recognition was due to the club he plays for.
Astonishingly, not a single Barcelona player was handed the Player of the Month award until Neymar took it in November 2015. Instead, the list breaks down as follows:
Spain's Players of the Month
| Month | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2013 | Diego Costa | Atletico Madrid |
| Oct 2013 | Koke | Atletico Madrid |
| Nov 2013 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
| Dec 2013 | Carlos Vela | Real Sociedad |
| Jan 2014 | Ivan Rakitic | Sevilla |
| Feb 2014 | Rafinha | Celta Vigo |
| Mar 2014 | Keylor Navas | Levante |
| Apr 2014 | Diego Godin | Atletico Madrid |
| May 2014 | Diego Godin | Atletico Madrid |
| Sep 2014 | Nolito | Celta Vigo |
| Oct 2014 | Karim Benzema | Real Madrid |
| Nov 2014 | Carlos Vela | Real Sociedad |
| Dec 2014 | Luciano Vietto | Villarreal |
| Jan 2015 | Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid |
| Feb 2015 | Alberto Bueno | Rayo Vallecano |
| Mar 2015 | Vitolo | Sevilla |
| Apr 2015 | Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid |
| May 2015 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
| Sep 2015 | Nolito | Celta Vigo |
| Oct 2015 | Borja Baston | Eibar |
| Nov 2015 | Neymar | Barcelona |
| Dec 2015 | Lucas Perez | Deportivo |
| Jan 2016 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
Awards by club
| Club | Awards |
|---|---|
| Atletico | 6 |
| Celta Vigo | 3 |
| Real Madrid | 3 |
| Barcelona | 2 |
| Sevilla | 2 |
| Deportivo | 1 |
| Eibar | 1 |
| Levante | 1 |
| Rayo Vallecano | 1 |
| Villarreal | 1 |
On the one hand, this might be deemed quite egalitarian and refreshing. After all, when else would Eibar's Borja Bastón earn recognition anywhere, including his own home?
But Messi probably had a case for feeling slightly aggrieved, given the prevalence of players from luminaries such as Celta Vigo and Rayo Vallencano.
Still, at least there is one consolation: he has now as many Player of the Month awards as Cristiano Ronaldo.
- Telegraph