Pichichis

The cup matches keep on coming as the Federation tries to pack in the competition before the European ties return. The semi-final first legs were played midweek, with Luis Fabiano taking advantage of an inspired substitution by his coach to put Sevilla on their way to a 2-0 win over Getafe. And the following day Diego Forlán netted two second half penalties to wrap up a 4-0 victory for Atlético against Racing. The second legs take place this week.

As chance would have it, Atlético visited Racing at the weekend in the league as well, with Forlán scoring again in a 1-1 draw. This year though the two-times Pichichi is a long way off the two leaders Messi and Villa, who both scored in their sides' respective victories over Getafe and Valladolid (Soldado got a late penalty consolation for the visitors in the Nou Camp). Real Madrid kept up the pace with Barça at the top, Higuaín one of the scorers in a 3-0 win over Espanyol, and Llorente saved Athletic's embarrassment against lowly Xerez with two late goals. Strikes by Kanouté and Diego Castro (from the penalty spot) were not enough however to save Sevilla and Sporting from defeat at Zaragoza and Almería. (08.02.10)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Messi (Barcelona) 16 3 4 23 (2)
Villa (Valencia) 15 0 3 18 (2)
Llorente (Athletic) 8 1 8 17 (2)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 9 0 6 15 (1)
Pedro (Barcelona) 6 4 5 15 (0)
Higuaín (Real Madrid) 12 0 2 14 (0)
Soldado (Getafe) 11 3 0 14 (3)
Luis Fabiano (Sevilla) 8 4 2 14 (1)
Ibrahimovic (Barcelona) 11 1 1 13 (1)
Forlán (Atlético) 9 3 1 13 (3)
Agüero (Atlético) 8 1 4 13 (0)
Rossi (Villarreal) 5 2 5 12 (3)
Aduríz (Mallorca) 8 1 0 9 (0)
Negredo (Sevilla) 7 2 0 9 (1)
Pandiani (Osasuna) 7 1 0 8 (0)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 7 0 1 8 (0)
Kanouté (Sevilla) 5 1 2 8 (2)
Maxi (Atlético) 2 5 1 8 (0)
Diego Castro (Sporting) 7 0 0 7 (2)
Diego Costa (Valladolid) 6 1 0 7 (0)
Nilmar (Villarreal) 6 0 1 7 (0)
Mata (Valencia) 5 0 2 7 (0)
Zigic (Valencia) 2 3 2 7 (0)
Jesús Navas (Sevilla) 2 3 2 7 (0)