Not a great week for Spanish sides in the Champions League, Sevilla the only team to win thanks to two goals from Squillaci and another from Jesús Navas at Stuttgart. Real Madrid and Barcelona were both beaten at home though, the former 2-3 by AC Milan (Raúl on target again for the Merengues), and the latter even more surprisingly 1-2 by the virtually unknown Rubin Kazan, Ibrahimovic's first European goal for his new club not enough to avoid defeat. Atlético Madrid did even worse though, a 4-0 loss against Chelsea costing the job of coach Abel Resino. Mixed results in the Europa League on Thursday, Athletic Bilbao's Llorente netting his sixth goal in the competition in a 2-1 win over Nacional, but Valencia being held at home by Slavia Prague and Villarreal losing in the last minute at Lazio.

Back to the league at the weekend, and Barcelona showed it is too early to write them off after they beat Zaragoza 6-1, Keita scoring a hat-trick, Ibrahimovic two more and Messi another to signal his personal recovery from a small drop in form. Ibrahimovic draws level with David Villa at the top of the league Pichichi table, the Valencia striker one of three scorers together with Pablo and Mata in a 0-3 win at Almería. Pandiani is just one behind after his sixth for Osasuna at Racing, and Forlán and Soldado were also on target again after a few weeks without a goal. Valladolid's Nauzet is another new entry in our chart after scoring a couple in a 4-0 win over Deportivo which takes Mendilibar's team away from the danger zone. (26.10.09)