Well that's it then. Another season over, and as expected Ronaldo takes the Pichichi prize despite an undignified end to the season for Real Madrid. Not so clear at the start of the season was who would be on the "podium" with Ronaldo, and if anybody had said that it would be Baptista and Mista they would probably have been put into a strait-jacket. "The Beast" has almost single-handedly dragged Sevilla into the UEFA cup spots though, and his goal on Sunday was the final touch to an excellent year. Mista has also been on great form recently, and he captured all the headlines (and the man of the match award) midweek winning a penalty (which Vicente converted) and scoring the second goal in the UEFA final victory over Olympique Marseille. Many commentators were surprised that he was not included in Iñaki Sáez's squad for Euro 2004, but he is still young and our bet is that he will feature when the World Cup qualifying games kick off next Autumn.

One man who is in Spain's squad though is Fernando Torres, and he proved he is on top form by scoring two at Bilbao to help his side to victory. He also won himself a penalty, but his kick was saved by Athletic's keeper Lafuente. His brace takes him to nineteen in the league, making him the joint top Spanish striker together with Mista and two others who also missed out on a place in Portugal, Tamudo and Salva. Tamudo had his mind on other things though, and once again he proved Espanyol's saviour with a late goal which kept the Catalans in the top flight for another season. Salva meanwhile saw his penalty kick saved, but scored on the rebound against Betis, and there were goals too for Pandiani, Saviola and also Figo (from the penalty spot) as their respective sides jostled for position in the top four league placings. (24.05.04)