Better results for Spanish sides in Europe this week. Real Madrid kicked off with a 2-0 win over AC Milan, Cristiano Ronaldo and Özil getting the goals early on to make it three wins out of three in their Champions League group. The following day Barcelona beat Copenhagen by the same scoreline, Messi once again scoring twice to take his side to the top of their group. And Valencia held Rangers to a 1-1 draw in Glasgow, Rangers midfielder Edu scoring a goal at each end. On Thursday three out the four La Liga teams won their Europa League ties, Getafe the only exception after a 1-0 defeat at Stuttgart. Atlético's Kun Agüero came on after an injury lay off to score a second and then set up Diego Costa for the third after Godín had broken the ice, their 3-0 win over Rosenborg their first victory in their group. Marco Rubén netted Villarreal's only goal in a 1-0 victory over PAOK Salonica, and a Kanouté header was enough for Sevilla to win by a single goal at Karpaty Lviv.

A season's best 35 goals at the weekend, with Real Madrid beating Racing 6-1 on Saturday to make it an impressive 16 goals from their last three league games. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a personal best four of those, including a penalty, and Higuaín and Özil got the other two. Messi was on target twice again for Barcelona at Zaragoza earlier in the evening though, and it is already looking like a two-horse battle between the best two players in the World for this year's Pichichi title. Another seven goals on Sunday in Sevilla's 4-3 victory over Athletic, Llorente's two goals for the Basque team not enough to take anything away from the Sánchez Pizjuán stadium after Luis Fabiano scored his first two league goals of the season and Kanouté netted two penalties. Villarreal continue to impress this season, and they are still splitting the big two after Cani and Rossi scored in a 2-0 win over Atlético, and elsewhere Hércules are holding their own, a strike from Nelson Valdez giving them a 1-1 draw at Almería and a relatively comfortable 13th spot in the table. (26.10.10)