The usual suspects made it through in the cup midweek, with Racing Santander the only lower ranked team to survive to the quarter finals. The big three all won by two goals to nil, Ronaldo and Di María getting the goals for Real Madrid at Osasuna, Messi getting his second brace in a week against Getafe, and Godín and Raúl García netting for Atlético against Valencia. Real Madrid were within minutes of having to face old giant-killers Alcorcón again, but two late goals helped Espanyol to a 4-2 win, inspired by team captain Sergio García who makes it to our chart for the first time this season after converting a penalty.

Some surprises at the weekend though, with the two leaders both drawing 1-1 on Sunday, Barcelona being held at Levante, and Atlético Madrid sharing the points at home to Sevilla. David Villa did put Atlético ahead, but a Rakitic penalty saved a point for the Andalusians. That gave Real Madrid the chance to close to within a point of the top two, which they duly did with a 0-5 victory on Saturday at bottom club Betis, who sacked their second manager of the season as a result. The “BBC” forward line (Bale, Benzema, Cristiano) started things off with three in the first half (although in the words of the legendary Eric Morecambe, “not necessarily in the right order!”), and Di María and Morata wrapped things up after the break. Elsewhere Sergio García completed a good week with the only goal for Espanyol against Celta, and Uche got his sixth in three games as Villarreal beat Almería 2-0. (21.01.14)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 21 1 9 31 (6)
Diego Costa (Atlético) 19 0 4 23 (4)
Messi (Barcelona) 8 4 6 18 (2)
Griezmann (Real Sociedad) 12 2 1 15 (0)
Pedro (Barcelona) 11 3 1 15 (0)
Bacca (Sevilla) 9 0 4 13 (0)
Uche (Villarreal) 12 0 0 12 (0)
Javi Guerra (Valladolid) 11 1 0 12 (0)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 9 1 2 12 (0)
Vela (Real Sociedad) 8 1 3 12 (0)
Raúl García (Atlético) 6 3 3 12 (0)
Alexis (Barcelona) 11 0 0 11 (0)
Villa (Atlético Madrid) 9 2 0 11 (1)
Rakitic (Sevilla) 9 0 2 11 (3)
Fàbregas (Barcelona) 7 3 1 11 (3)
Neymar (Barcelona) 6 2 3 11 (1)
Bale (Real Madrid) 8 0 2 10 (0)
Jorge Molina (Betis) 7 1 2 10 (1)
Sergio García (Espanyol) 8 1 0 9 (3)
Giovani (Villarreal) 8 1 0 9 (1)
Jonas (Valencia) 8 0 0 8 (1)
Isco (Real Madrid) 7 0 1 8 (0)
Gameiro (Sevilla) 5 0 3 8 (0)
Di María (Real Madrid) 3 2 3 8 (1)