Messi is back! Or so we thought on Wednesday when he scored two against AC Milan to ensure a place in the Champions League knock-out stage for Barcelona. However on Sunday he only lasted 20 minutes or so before picking up another hamstring injury which will keep him out until the new year. Ronaldo though has no such problems, and he powered his way clear of the pack with a goal in Real Madrid's 2-2 draw at Juventus on Tuesday, and a hat-trick in the 5-1 thrashing of Real Sociedad on Saturday. Bale got the other Champions League goal, and Benzema was amongst the scorers in the league, Griezmann's seventh in five games a mere anecdote in the Bernabeu.

Real Sociedad just kept their hopes alive in Europe's top competition with a 0-0 draw against Manchester United, but Atlético Madrid are already sure of top spot in their group after a 4-0 win against Austria Vienna, Miranda, Raúl García and Filipe Luis scoring the first three, and Diego Costa missing a penalty before netting the fourth. Costa's dreams of playing for Spain took a set-back though after he too picked up an injury at the weekend, just a couple of days after being included in Del Bosque's squad for the first time. On Thursday La Liga's three Europa League sides all clocked up good results to end the day at the top of their respective groups, Piatti scoring two and Canales the third as Valencia beat St. Gallen 2-3, Chuli getting his first goal for his new club as Betis won 0-1 at Vitoria Guimaraes, and Perotti firing home a free kick for Sevilla in a 1-1 draw against Slovan Liberec.

Messi's absence didn't stop Barça from hammering Betis 1-4 at the weekend though, Neymar and Pedro getting the first two and Fàbregas adding two more after the restart, with Molina converting a late penalty for the Andalusians. Tata Martino's side move three points clear at the top after Atlético could only draw 1-1 at Villarreal, two own goals in that one, and Sevilla recovered some ground on the teams above them with a 1-3 victory at Espanyol, Bacca on target in Cornellà. Ronaldo wasn't the only one to score a hat-trick this weekend, Granada's El-Arabi getting all three for the Andalusians in a 3-1 victory against Málaga, and elsewhere a Rodri strike at Osasuna helped Almería to a third win in a row, and a Javi Guerra header put Valladolid on the road to securing a point at Valencia. Thirty three goals in all, matching the highest tally since the opening day of the season. (12.11.13)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 16 0 8 24 (6)
Diego Costa (Atlético) 13 0 3 16 (2)
Messi (Barcelona) 8 0 6 14 (2)
Griezmann (Real Sociedad) 8 0 1 9 (0)
Rakitic (Sevilla) 7 0 2 9 (2)
Bacca (Sevilla) 5 0 4 9 (0)
Rodri (Almería) 7 0 0 7 (0)
Alexis (Barcelona) 7 0 0 7 (0)
Javi Guerra (Valladolid) 7 0 0 7 (0)
Villa (Atlético Madrid) 6 1 0 7 (1)
Jorge Molina (Betis) 5 0 2 7 (1)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 5 0 2 7 (0)
Pedro (Barcelona) 6 0 0 6 (0)
El-Arabi (Granada) 6 0 0 6 (0)
Giovani (Villarreal) 6 0 0 6 (1)
Gameiro (Sevilla) 4 0 2 6 (0)
Oriol Riera (Osasuna) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Jonas (Valencia) 5 0 0 5 (1)
Neymar (Barcelona) 4 1 0 5 (0)
Fàbregas (Barcelona) 4 0 1 5 (0)
Isco (Real Madrid) 4 0 1 5 (0)
Raúl García (Atlético) 3 0 2 5 (0)
Vela (Real Sociedad) 2 0 3 5 (0)
Perotti (Sevilla) 1 0 4 5 (2)