The race for the Pichichi got underway this weekend with last year's winner coming through as the top dog through week one.

Suarez Dominates Yet Again

Luis Suarez broke the PIchichi monopoly held by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for six years running when he scored 40 goals last season.

He became the first player since Diego Forlan won the trophy back in 2008-09. Moreover, he became the first player not named Ronaldo or Messi to score 40 goals in La Liga throughout its history.

He continued his path toward securing yet another Pichichi by scoring three goals to kick start the season. Suarez is unlikely to finish the year with 114 goals (his current pace), but he is on fire in the competition, scoring 16 goals in his last six Spanish League tilts dating back to last season. Moreover, he has scored two or more goals in five of those six games and three or more goals in four of those six games.

Messi's Solid Start

Coming in behind him in the race is teammate Lionel Messi who scored the finest goal of the weekend and eventually added a second. He is on pace for 76 goals in La Liga, though he has never quite gotten that high. He is the record holder all-time with 50 goals in a single season back in 2011-12.

Bale Leads Other Pretenders

Tied with Messi is Luciano Vietto, Gareth Bale, Ruben Castro, Marko Livaja and Santi Mina. Vietto has never scored more than 12 goals in La Liga, though at 22 his stock is rising. Bale's all-time scoring record in Spain is 19 goals last season; he did score 21 for Tottenham in 2012-13 and many believe that he is about to have a breakout campaign at Madrid. Castro, 35, has never topped 24 goals in La Liga, but he did so back in 2005-06 at the age of 25. He is unlikely to maintain his current pace for the balance of the year. Livaja is having his first year at Las Palmas, but the winger has yet to break out as a goalscorer in his burgeoning career. Mina has never scored more than seven goals in La Liga.

Predictions: Suarez will undoubtedly remain near the top, as will Messi and Bale. The question revolves around whether Cristiano Ronaldo will catch up fast enough when he undoubtedly makes his La Liga debut this season.