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The big talking point this week on the strikers' front is that neither Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo nor Falcao scored! How long has it been since that happened? None of the three were in action in the midweek cup ties, usual practise in the early rounds of the competition. But they did all feature this weekend, with Messi virtually arriving at the Nou Camp straight from the hospital after attending the birth of his first born, and he really wanted to get a goal to dedicate to young Thiago, if nothing more than to get out the baby's dummy which an astute cameraman spotted inside his sock!

In their absence though there were plenty of goalscorers, David Villa, Iniesta and Fàbregas for Barcelona, Benzema twice, Kaká and 17 year old José Rodríguez for Real Madrid, Diego Costa, Adrián and Raúl García for Atlético, as well as Jonas and Nelson Valdez for Valencia and Negredo for Sevilla, all of those in the cup.

Villa scored again on Saturday in Barça's 3-1 victory over Celta, and Valdez was on target alongside Soldado as Valencia handed Atlético their first defeat of the season. Málaga lost their first home game to Rayo Vallecano, Piti getting both of Rayo's goals, and Real Madrid edged above them in the table after a 4-0 win over Zaragoza, Higuaín one of the scorers there.

Betis also go above Málaga after a 2-4 victory at Getafe on Monday night, with Jorge Molina and Rubén Castro both on the scoresheet, and Athletic move out of the relegation zone to the detriment of Granada after beating the Andalusians 1-2, Aduríz netting a brace for the Basque side, and a fourth goal in as many games by El-Arabi coming too late to change the result. Aduríz is fourth in our table and the leading contender for the "Zarra" award, which is given to the highest scoring Spanish player at the end of each league season. (07.11.12)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 11 2 5 18 (4)
Messi (Barcelona) 13 2 2 17 (2)
Falcao (Atlético) 10 0 3 13 (4)
Aduríz (Athletic Bilbao) 8 0 2 10 (1)
Higuaín (Real Madrid) 7 1 0 8 (0)
Negredo (Sevilla) 6 1 0 7 (2)
Soldado (Valencia) 4 0 3 7 (2)
Hemed (Mallorca) 6 0 0 6 (0)
David Villa (Barcelona) 5 1 0 6 (0)
Oscar (Valladolid) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Raúl García (Atlético Madrid) 3 1 1 5 (0)
Fàbregas (Barcelona) 3 1 1 5 (0)
Joaquín (Málaga) 3 0 2 5 (2)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 1 2 2 5 (0)
Susaeta (Athletic Bilbao) 1 0 4 5 (0)
Jorge Molina (Betis) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Rubén Castro (Betis) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Pizzi (Deportivo) 4 0 0 4 (3)
Verdú (Espanyol) 4 0 0 4 (1)
El-Arabi (Granada) 4 0 0 4 (1)
Martins (Levante) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Leo Baptistao (Rayo) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Piti (Rayo Vallecano) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Postiga (Zaragoza) 4 0 0 4 (0)
San José (Athletic Bilbao) 3 0 1 4 (0)
Valdez (Valencia) 2 1 1 4 (0)
Michel (Levante) 2 0 2 4 (2)
Isco (Málaga) 2 0 2 4 (0)
Diego Costa (Atlético) 1 1 2 4 (1)
Jonas (Valencia) 1 1 2 4 (0)