Three out of Spain's four Champions League teams are already almost through to the knock-out stages of the competition after the midweek results. On Tuesday Messi got the only goal as Barcelona drew 1-1 at AC Milan, and Atlético Madrid beat Austria Vienna 0-3 to make it three wins out of three, the prolific Diego Costa netting twice after Raúl García had started things off. The following day Real Madrid also won their third game in a row in the competition, Ronaldo getting both goals in a 2-1 win over Juventus, and only Real Sociedad disappointed, a 1-0 defeat at Manchester United leaving them virtually out of the competition. Good results in the Europa League as well on Thursday, Valencia leading the way with a 5-1 victory over St. Gallen, Fede scoring two and Poco Alcácer, Ricardo Costa and Canales getting the rest. Elsewhere Vadillo got Betis's only goal in a 1-0 win against Vitoria Guimaraes, and Vitolo scored a late equalizer in Sevilla's 1-1 draw at Slovan Liberec.

The weekend was of course dominated by that first "clásico" of the season, although neither Messi nor Ronaldo got on the scoresheet. Neymar and Adriano did so for Barça though, and Jesé's first goal for the senior side late on was scant consolation. Atlético Madrid stay a point behind Barcelona in the table after a 5-0 drubbing of Betis, David Villa helping himself to brace and, yes, Diego Costa amongst the scorers again. Villarreal stay fourth after a 4-1 win over neighbours Valencia, Giovani scoring twice after missing a penalty, and Ricardo Costa (now Valencia's joint top scorer!) replying for the visitors. Goals elsewhere as well, Griezmann getting two for Real Sociedad, El Zhar two more for Levante, Charles one of Celta's five at Málaga, Rakitic one for Sevilla, with Riera getting one back for Osasuna in that match, and Javi Guerra on target for Valladolid. 32 in all, the third highest tally of the season. (29.10.13)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 8 0 7 15 (4)
Diego Costa (Atlético) 11 0 2 13 (1)
Messi (Barcelona) 8 0 4 12 (1)
Rakitic (Sevilla) 5 0 2 7 (1)
Bacca (Sevilla) 3 0 4 7 (0)
Giovani (Villarreal) 6 0 0 6 (1)
Jorge Molina (Betis) 4 0 2 6 (0)
Gameiro (Sevilla) 4 0 2 6 (0)
Rodri (Almería) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Alexis (Barcelona) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Pedro (Barcelona) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Javi Guerra (Valladolid) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Villa (Atlético Madrid) 4 1 0 5 (0)
Isco (Real Madrid) 4 0 1 5 (0)
Griezmann (Real Sociedad) 4 0 1 5 (0)
Vela (Real Sociedad) 2 0 3 5 (0)
Charles (Celta) 4 0 0 4 (0)
El Zhar (Levante) 4 0 0 4 (2)
Oriol Riera (Osasuna) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Jonas (Valencia) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Neymar (Barcelona) 3 1 0 4 (0)
Raúl García (Atlético) 3 0 1 4 (0)
Ricardo Costa (Valencia) 3 0 1 4 (0)
Perotti (Sevilla) 1 0 3 4 (2)