Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao insists that the success of his team is more important to him than any individual ambitions he may have.
Falcao has scored seven goals in his first five games of the Primera Liga season, prompting suggestion he could beat Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to the Pichichi award.
Last season Messi took the prize with an amazing tally of 50 goals, four ahead of 2011 winner Ronaldo, with Falcao third on 24 goals in his first year in Spain following his move from Porto.
But it is the Colombian who leads the way so far in the current campaign, while the 26-year-old has also netted a hat-trick in the UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea and got goals in both of his country’s World Cup qualifiers earlier in September.
However, in-form Falcao is not pre-occupied with challenging Messi and Ronaldo at the top of the scoring charts.
“I didn’t say I wanted to compete with Cristiano and Messi. I simply want to score goals to help my team, nothing more,” he told AS.
“At the end we’ll see where I am. The most important thing is that the team fulfils their objectives. We are competing with 19 other teams, not only against Madrid and Barca.”
Falcao scored twice as Atletico claimed a 4-2 win over Betis on Wednesday to move into second place in table on 13 points, two behind leaders Barca.
He limped out of the contest in the 53rd minute with an injury but hopes to be fit for the clash with Espanyol on Sunday.
He added: “I hope to be able to face Espanyol even though I have some pain and I had to retire early.”
Sky Sports
