Real Madrid and Barcelona both clocked up home wins in the first legs of the cup semi-finals on Wednesday evening, and another “clásico” cup final seems to be on the cards. It was a night of own goals though, Real Madrid beating city neighbours Atlético 3-0 with two in their own net from Insúa and Miranda (albeit that the referee awarded the strikes to Pepe and Di María in his report), and Barcelona beat Real Sociedad 2-0, the second a Zubikarai own goal which was equally as comical as Juanfran’s in the previous round. Jesé (for Madrid) and Busquets (for Barça) were the other scorers.

So to the weekend, and reports that Messi has lost his form appear to be a bit premature as the little man fired home two house specials on a rainy Sunday night in Sevilla. Alexis and Fàbregas were also on target as Barça won 1-4 to draw level on points with Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, who both played the night before. Madrid were missing Cristiano Ronaldo, suspended for the next three league games, but in his absence they still beat Villarreal 4-2, Benzema netting twice and Bale and Jesé getting the others, with Giovani scoring a cracking free kick for the visitors. Atlético Madrid lose out on top spot though after they were beaten 2-0 at Almería, only their second league defeat of the season. Elsewhere Oriol Riera got one of Osasuna’s goals in a vital 2-0 win over relegation rivals Getafe, and youth international striker Paco Alcácer joins the group on eight goals after he netted twice in Valencia’s 5-0 victory over bottom club Betis. (12.02.14)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 22 1 9 32 (6)
Diego Costa (Atlético) 20 1 4 25 (4)
Messi (Barcelona) 11 4 6 21 (3)
Griezmann (Real Sociedad) 14 2 1 17 (0)
Alexis (Barcelona) 14 2 0 16 (0)
Pedro (Barcelona) 12 3 1 16 (0)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 12 2 2 16 (0)
Bacca (Sevilla) 10 0 4 14 (0)
Vela (Real Sociedad) 9 2 3 14 (0)
Villa (Atlético Madrid) 11 2 0 13 (1)
Fàbregas (Barcelona) 8 4 1 13 (3)
Raúl García (Atlético) 6 4 3 13 (0)
Uche (Villarreal) 12 0 0 12 (0)
Javi Guerra (Valladolid) 11 1 0 12 (0)
Rakitic (Sevilla) 10 0 2 12 (3)
Bale (Real Madrid) 9 0 2 11 (0)
Neymar (Barcelona) 6 2 3 11 (1)
Sergio García (Espanyol) 9 1 0 10 (4)
Giovani (Villarreal) 9 1 0 10 (1)
Jorge Molina (Betis) 7 1 2 10 (1)
Oriol Riera (Osasuna) 9 0 0 9 (0)
Jonas (Valencia) 9 0 0 9 (1)
Di María (Real Madrid) 3 3 3 9 (1)
Ibai Gómez (Athletic) 8 0 0 8 (1)
Charles (Celta) 8 0 0 8 (0)
El-Arabi (Granada) 8 0 0 8 (1)
Isco (Real Madrid) 7 0 1 8 (0)
Perbet (Villarreal) 7 0 1 8 (1)
Aduríz Athletic) 6 2 0 8 (0)
Gameiro (Sevilla) 5 0 3 8 (0)
Paco Alcácer (Valencia) 4 1 3 8 (0)