All but four first division sides were in action midweek in some cup competition or other, although they didn't manage too many goals between them. Barcelona and Betis couldn't get off the mark in the Champions League and Villarreal only got one, a Riquelme penalty which kept them in with a chance of reaching the next stage. Real Madrid did hit four though against a weak Rosenborg side, with Raúl stepping in for the injured Ronaldo and Baptista and scoring an excellent goal. And in the UEFA cup, Tamudo gave his side an important first win in their mini-league against Lokomotive. Thursday saw a full round of Spanish cup games, but the eleven clubs from the top flight only managed 14 goals altogether, with Real Sociedad even failing to score from five penalties. Celta's Jesús Perera took advantage of Baiano's absence through injury to score a hat-trick against third division side Tenisca, and Kezman got the only goal against a Rayo Vallecano team who have seen better days.

Quite a few goals at the weekend though, with two sides hitting five. One was revelation team Getafe, who thrashed Zaragoza 5-2 with two goals from Güiza to overtake city neighbours Real Madrid and move to the top of the table. Málaga also recorded a "mano" against their local rivals Betis with two each for Salva and Pablo Couñago. Eto'o moved further ahead at the top of the table though after getting two more against Osasuna, and with Ronaldo injured, David Villa's penalty goal against Real Madrid moves him up to second place. Raúl is also up there after temporarily equalising in that match, and Riquelme added to his midweek goal with another directly from the corner spot against Mallorca. Finally Kovacevic returned from his mother's funeral to get one of Real Sociedad's goals against Deportivo, an emotional night for the Serbian striker after the crowd observed a minute's silence for her before kick off. (24.10.05)