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A major surprise in the fifth round of the cup midweek, with second division B side Mirandés knocking out Racing Santander to reach the quarter finals. Part-timer Pablo Infante, who works as a bank manager most of the week, got one of the goals, and with five in the competition to date, he is the cup's leading scorer this year. Alvaro Vázquez of Espanyol (Mirandés's next opponents) is just one behind him though after scoring a hat-trick against Córdoba, his third goal coming in the last minute with his team staring defeat in the face. And there were two from Mallorca's Hemed, the first he has not scored from the penalty spot as the Islanders rattled in six in 25 minutes or so to take apart Real Sociedad. Elsewhere the resumption of hostilities between Real Madrid and Barcelona is confirmed as both made it through to their quarter final clash, Benzema's goal enough to see the former through against Málaga, and Alexis one of the scorers as the latter knocked out Osasuna. Whoever wins through the latest "Clásico" may well meet Valencia in the semis, Soldado's away goal at Sevilla enough to take the Ches through to fratricidal meeting with Levante.

The battle between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo continues in the league, and with one game still to go to the midpoint of the season, Ronaldo has 21 and Messi 19. Messi got two of those in the 4-2 victory over Betis on Sunday night, with Xavi and Alexis the other names on the Barcelona scoresheet. Ronaldo didn't score this week, but Higuaín and Callejón did in Real Madrid's 1-2 win at Mallorca which keeps them five points clear at the top of the table. Hemed got the goal again for the Islanders. Atlético Madrid's new coach Simeone got off to a good start in the Calderón stadium, Falcao netting two, including a penalty, in a 3-0 win over Villarreal, and Llorente returned to the Athletic Bilbao line-up after an injury lay-off to get one in a 3-0 victory over Levante. Meanwhile Racing got over their cup defeat beating Osasuna 0-2, Stuani converting two penalties, and Rayo Vallecano clocked up an important 1-2 victory at Granada, with Michu getting his tenth of the season in all competitions. (16.01.12)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Messi (Barcelona) 19 5 9 33 (3)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 21 2 3 26 (8)
Soldado (Valencia) 11 2 5 18 (1)
Higuaín (Real Madrid) 14 1 2 17 (0)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 10 3 4 17 (0)
Falcao (Atlético) 11 0 3 14 (5)
Fàbregas (Barcelona) 9 2 3 14 (0)
Adrián (Atlético) 5 1 5 11 (0)
Michu (Rayo Vallecano) 8 2 0 10 (0)
Callejón (Real Madrid) 3 3 4 10 (0)
Llorente (Athletic Bilbao) 7 0 2 9 (2)
Xavi (Barcelona) 6 1 2 9 (0)
Villa (Barcelona) 5 1 3 9 (0)
Hemed (Mallorca) 6 2 0 8 (5)
Stuani (Racing) 4 4 0 8 (4)
Barral (Sporting Gijón) 7 0 0 7 (0)
Alexis (Barcelona) 6 1 0 7 (0)
Koné (Levante) 6 1 0 7 (0)
Sergio García (Espanyol) 5 2 0 7 (0)
Agirretxe (Real Sociedad) 5 2 0 7 (0)
Kanouté (Sevilla) 3 3 1 7 (1)
Alvaro Vázquez (Espanyol) 3 4 0 7 (0)