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There seem to be two Pichichi competitions going on this season, one for the "inter-planetary superstars", and one for the rest! Ronaldo and Messi we knew about, and once again this week their performances were out of this world, but Falcao has joined them at this albeit early stage of the season, and now it's a three way contest! Ronaldo leads the lot this week though, his second hat-trick of the week in the Champions League match at Ajax followed by a brace in the Nou Camp at the weekend. Messi helped himself to two at the other end however as the Titans drew 2-2 to hold the gap between them to eight points, and to leave the press drooling about the contest between possibly the two greatest footballers ever. Falcao was not to be cowed though, and although he was rested in the midweek Europa League game, he did get his name on the scoresheet at least once at the weekend against Málaga to leave him level with the two giants in the Pichichi charts. Did he get the second as well? He claims he did, and Marca, the Madrid based sports paper who give out the Pichichi award, gave him the goal at first, despite the referee's report attributing an own goal by Weligton. However a local TV channel found a camera angle which proved he didn't touch the ball, so it was a quick cut-and-paste exercise to change everything back.

A great week though for Spanish teams in the Champions League, with all four winning their day two games. Messi turned provider to set up strikes for Alexis and Fàbregas as Barcelona beat Benfica 0-2 on Tuesday, and Jonas got both Valencia's goals in a 2-0 win over Lille. The following day Benzema complemented Ronaldo's hat-trick with a goal of his own in Madrid's 1-4 victory at Ajax, and Eliseu got two and Joaquín converted a penalty in between as Málaga beat Anderlecht 0-3. Not such good news for La Liga's participants in the Europa League however, Atlético scraping a 1-0 win over Viktoria Plsen thanks to an injury time strike by Cristian Rodríguez, but Athletic Bilbao and Levante losing to Sparta Prague and Hannover '96 respectively.

The weekend was dominated by the "clásico" in Barcelona, and to a lesser extent by the match later on on Sunday in the Calderón stadium, but (believe it or not) there were other games going on as well. Martins paid off another chunk of his signing fee by scoring the only goal as Levante finally beat their city neighbours Valencia, and Aduríz did likewise as Athletic Bilbao won by the same scoreline against local rivals Osasuna, a result which takes Bielsa's side out of the drop zone. Goals by Rubén Castro and Iago Aspas helped Betis and Celta to important wins over Real Sociedad and Sevilla, and Oscar's fourth of the season saved a point for Valladolid against Espanyol. Hemed's late header was not enough however to prevent Mallorca from a 1-2 defeat against Granada, only the second time they have lost this season. (09.10.12)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 8 2 4 14 (3)
Messi (Barcelona) 8 2 2 12 (2)
Falcao (Atlético) 8 0 3 11 (4)
Aduríz (Athletic Bilbao) 4 0 2 6 (0)
Hemed (Mallorca) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Susaeta (Athletic Bilbao) 1 0 4 5 (0)
Negredo (Sevilla) 4 0 0 4 (1)
Oscar (Valladolid) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Higuaín (Real Madrid) 3 1 0 4 (0)
David Villa (Barcelona) 3 0 0 3 (0)
Rubén Castro (Betis) 3 0 0 3 (0)
Jorge Molina (Betis) 3 0 0 3 (0)
Iago Aspas (Celta) 3 0 0 3 (1)
Riki (Deportivo) 3 0 0 3 (0)
Barrada (Getafe) 3 0 0 3 (0)
Feghouli (Valencia) 3 0 0 3 (0)
San José (Athletic Bilbao) 2 0 1 3 (0)
Raúl García (Atlético Madrid) 2 0 1 3 (0)
Fàbregas (Barcelona) 2 0 1 3 (0)
Joaquín (Málaga) 2 0 1 3 (2)
Saviola (Málaga) 2 0 1 3 (0)
Isco (Málaga) 1 0 2 3 (0)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 1 0 2 3 (0)
Jonas (Valencia) 1 0 2 3 (0)
Eliseu (Málaga) 0 0 3 3 (0)