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Leo Messi will have to go some to beat last year's record of 91 goals, but he has already got 2013 off to a good start after converting a penalty in Barcelona's 4-0 victory over Espanyol this weekend. His closest rival Cristiano Ronaldo went one better though, netting twice after Benzema had opened the scoring in a 4-3 win over Real Sociedad. Xabi Prieto got all three for the Basque side, but to no avail. Falcao was absent for Atlético's visit to Mallorca due to a one match suspension, but Raúl García stepped in to help his side to a point which keeps them five ahead of their city rivals in the table.

The new year kicked off though with a 1-2 victory for Betis at Zaragoza, Rubén Castro scoring the first to send a message to Del Bosque that he is available if he needs a new front man. The much travelled striker was the highest scoring Spanish player in 2012, but the Spain coach also has his eye on others, including Swansea's Michu and Celta's Iago Aspas, who scored twice in his team's 3-1 win over Valladolid. With Llorente out of favour, his (for the time being?) team-mate Aduríz also put in his claim for a return to "la selección" with the opener on Saturday for Athletic at Levante (albeit that they lost in the end), and later in the evening Jonas put Valencia on track to a 1-2 victory at Granada which took the Ches to within sight of the European spots once again. The extended weekend finished with the South-Madrid derby between Rayo Vallecano and Getafe, the locals running out 3-1 winners thanks in part to two goals from Piti. Right now his name is not on Del Bosque's list, but he did at least make his "international" debut playing for Catalunya against Nigeria last week. (08.01.13)

PS Congratulations to Messi for his record fourth Golden Ball, and also to the other ten players from La Liga who were voted with him in to FIFA's best World XI for 2012. It just confirms that Spanish football is still the tops right now!

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Messi (Barcelona) 27 4 5 36 (2)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 16 3 6 25 (4)
Falcao (Atlético) 17 0 3 20 (5)
Aduríz (Athletic Bilbao) 11 1 3 15 (1)
Soldado (Valencia) 9 1 4 14 (4)
Rubén Castro (Betis) 10 2 0 12 (0)
Negredo (Sevilla) 8 3 0 11 (3)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 5 2 3 10 (0)
Iago Aspas (Celta) 8 0 0 8 (2)
Piti (Rayo Vallecano) 8 0 0 8 (1)
Postiga (Zaragoza) 8 0 0 8 (0)
Higuaín (Real Madrid) 7 1 0 8 (0)
David Villa (Barcelona) 5 3 0 8 (0)
Raúl García (Atlético Madrid) 4 2 2 8 (0)
Jonas (Valencia) 3 1 4 8 (1)
Hemed (Mallorca) 7 0 0 7 (0)
Vela (Real Sociedad) 7 0 0 7 (3)
Oscar (Valladolid) 7 0 0 7 (0)
Santa Cruz (Málaga) 5 2 0 7 (0)
Fàbregas (Barcelona) 5 1 1 7 (0)
Riki (Deportivo) 6 0 0 6 (0)
Molina (Betis) 6 0 0 6 (0)
Martins (Levante) 6 0 0 6 (0)
Leo Baptistao (Rayo) 6 0 0 6 (0)
Manucho (Valladolid) 6 0 0 6 (0)
Adriano (Barcelona) 5 1 0 6 (0)
Xavi (Barcelona) 5 1 0 6 (0)
Saviola (Málaga) 5 0 1 6 (0)
Isco (Málaga) 4 0 2 6 (0)
Joaquín (Málaga) 4 0 2 6 (2)
Valdez (Valencia) 3 2 1 6 (0)
Feghouli (Valencia) 3 0 3 6 (0)
Susaeta (Athletic Bilbao) 2 0 4 6 (0)