Another difficult week for Spanish clubs in Europe, with Real Madrid the only team to win in the Champions League. Di María got the only goal late on in a 0-1 victory at Auxerre. Barcelona were held again to a 1-1 draw at Rubin Kazan, Villa's second half penalty saving a point for Guardiola's side, and Valencia were beaten 0-1 at home by Manchester United. On Thursday Sevilla beat Borussia Dortmund 0-1 with a goal from Cigarini, and Villarreal won 2-1 against Club Brugge, with Rossi and Gonzalo on target. Getafe lost 2-0 though at Young Boys, and Atlético Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Bayer Leverkusen, Simao getting Atlético's goal from the penalty spot.

So to the weekend, where Real Madrid finally got under way with a 6-1 win over Deportivo. Up to now no Madrid players were in our charts, but two from Cristiano Ronaldo and goals in between from Di Maria and Higuaín took all three in to our rankings. Messi stays top of the table though, and after receiving the European Golden Boot award before the kick off against Mallorca he netted his eighth of the season. It was not enough though to prevent his side from dropping two more points at home after Nsue equalised for Michael Laudrup's side. Valencia and Villarreal end day six above both of La Liga's giants however, Aduriz opening the scoring as the Ches beat Athletic Bilbao 2-1, and Nilmar and Rossi both on target in Villarreal's 2-0 win over Racing Santander. Elsewhere Negredo and Kanouté scored for a rejuvenated Sevilla in a 3-1 victory over Atlético, and Kalu Uche got his third in two games as Almería drew 1-1 with Málaga. (05.10.10)