Not many goals once more in the mid-week games, although our usual three suspects came up trumps again (as ever) as the top three all won. Barcelona had a close shave at city rivals Espanyol, Messi getting the only goal late on with a more than questionable penalty, and Diego Costa set Atlético on their way to a hard fought 1-2 win in the always difficult (new) San Mamés stadium. Real Madrid had it easier though, Ronaldo starting things off and Bale scoring two in as many minutes in a 5-0 win over their city neighbours Rayo Vallecano. However even that didn’t please all of their fans after their last two defeats, and there were some protests from the stands, including (to the incredulity of Ancelotti) a whistle or two for Ronaldo himself after a couple of moments of selfishness later on! Who would have thought? Otherwise though only one of our top Pichichis managed to add to his tally, Osasuna’s Oriol Riera saving what could be an important point for his side against local rivals Real Sociedad. Seven weeks to go, and up to ten teams are fighting to avoid the drop. (01.04.14)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 28 3 13 44 (9)
Messi (Barcelona) 23 5 8 36 (7)
Diego Costa (Atlético) 25 1 7 33 (4)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 16 2 4 22 (0)
Alexis (Barcelona) 17 2 0 19 (0)
Griezmann (Real Sociedad) 15 3 1 19 (0)
Bacca (Sevilla) 14 0 5 19 (1)
Pedro (Barcelona) 14 3 1 18 (0)
Vela (Real Sociedad) 12 2 3 17 (1)
Bale (Real Madrid) 12 0 4 16 (0)
Villa (Atlético Madrid) 13 2 0 15 (1)
Raúl García (Atlético) 7 4 4 15 (0)
Javi Guerra (Valladolid) 13 1 0 14 (0)
Neymar (Barcelona) 9 2 3 14 (1)
Gameiro (Sevilla) 9 0 5 14 (1)
Aduríz Athletic) 11 2 0 13 (2)
Rakitic (Sevilla) 11 0 2 13 (4)
Fàbregas (Barcelona) 8 4 1 13 (3)
Uche (Villarreal) 12 0 0 12 (0)
Sergio García (Espanyol) 11 1 0 12 (4)
El-Arabi (Granada) 11 0 0 11 (1)
Giovani (Villarreal) 10 1 0 11 (1)
Jorge Molina (Betis) 8 1 2 11 (1)
Rubén Castro (Betis) 8 1 2 11 (0)
Paco Alcácer (Valencia) 6 1 4 11 (0)
Oriol Riera (Osasuna) 10 0 0 10 (0)
Bueno (Rayo Vallecano) 9 1 0 10 (0)
Perbet (Villarreal) 9 0 1 10 (1)
Larrivey (Rayo Vallecano) 9 0 0 9 (3)
Jonas (Valencia) 9 0 0 9 (1)
Isco (Real Madrid) 7 0 2 9 (0)
Di María (Real Madrid) 3 3 3 9 (1)