A lot to talk about this week after a fortnight without top flight league games! For the first time in recent history the first legs of the fourth round Spanish cup ties were played on a weekend, with all first division teams entering the competition at this stage. Many of the top strikers were rested though against lower division opposition, but there were still some big names on the scoresheets. Pedro for example got two for Barcelona and Fàbregas another against second division B side Cartagena, and Raúl García and David Villa were on target at Sant Andreu. And elsewhere there were goals for Griezmann, Giovani and Jorge Molina as the first division teams came through relatively unscathed.

Midweek saw the last round of group stage matches in the Champions and Europa Leagues, and although none of the seven Spanish teams had too much left to decide, there were still quite a few goals. On Tuesday Cristiano Ronaldo set yet another record with his ninth in the six mini-league matches, Modric also scoring in a 0-2 win at Copenhagen. And on Wednesday Barcelona stuck six past Celtic, Neymar setting up Pedro for one of them and then netting a hat-trick himself, his first goals in Europe for his new club. Raúl García and Diego Costa were on target for Atlético as they beat Porto 2-0, and only Real Sociedad disappointed again after they fell to 0-1 defeat against Bayer Leverkusen. On Thursday Valencia and Sevilla confirmed top spot of their respective E-League groups, Paco Alcácer scoring within a minute of coming on for the Ches in a 1-1 draw against Kuban Krasnodar, and Iborra and Rusescu getting the goals in a 0-2 win at Freiburg. Betis are also in to the knock-out stage, albeit as second of their group after they could only draw 0-0 against Rijeka.

And finally to the weekend, where Neymar continued his scoring streak with both goals for Barcelona (including a penalty) in a 2-1 win over Villarreal. That took his tally to five in four days! Ronaldo didn't score, but Isco and of all people Pepe did to save a point at Osasuna after Oriol Riera had put the locals two up. Diego Costa took advantage though to move level with Ronaldo for the league Pichichi after scoring twice for Atlético (again including a penalty) in a 3-0 win over Valencia, and it could have been more if he had not missed another penalty in between. Who got the other? Why Raúl García of course! Ronaldo and Costa both have 17 league goals, and with Messi still out, the joint third top scorers (with ten) are Griezmann, who got one of Real Sociedad's five against Betis (Molina got the consolation there), and Javi Guerra, who got all three for Valladolid in the Monday night match against Celta. (17.12.13)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 17 0 9 26 (6)
Diego Costa (Atlético) 17 0 4 21 (3)
Messi (Barcelona) 8 0 6 14 (2)
Griezmann (Real Sociedad) 10 1 1 12 (0)
Bacca (Sevilla) 7 0 4 11 (0)
Javi Guerra (Valladolid) 10 0 0 10 (0)
Villa (Atlético Madrid) 8 2 0 10 (1)
Pedro (Barcelona) 7 2 1 10 (0)
Raúl García (Atlético) 6 1 3 10 (0)
Neymar (Barcelona) 6 1 3 10 (1)
Bale (Real Madrid) 7 0 2 9 (0)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 7 0 2 9 (0)
Rakitic (Sevilla) 7 0 2 9 (2)
Jorge Molina (Betis) 6 1 2 9 (1)
Vela (Real Sociedad) 6 0 3 9 (0)
Alexis (Barcelona) 8 0 0 8 (0)
Jonas (Valencia) 8 0 0 8 (1)
Isco (Real Madrid) 7 0 1 8 (0)
Gameiro (Sevilla) 5 0 3 8 (0)
Rodri (Almería) 7 0 0 7 (0)
Riera (Osasuna) 7 0 0 7 (0)
Giovani (Villarreal) 6 1 0 7 (1)
Fàbregas (Barcelona) 5 1 1 7 (1)