Real Madrid played the semi-finals and final of the Club World Cup in Morocco this week, beating Mexico’s Cruz Azul 4-0 in the first game and Argentina’s San Lorenzo 2-0 in the second to pick up their fourth title of the year. For once Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t get his name on the scoresheet, but Sergio Ramos and Bale scored in both matches, and Benzema and Isco got the other two goals in the semis. All the other sides except for Madrid’s league opponents Sevilla played cup ties midweek, with a full house for the top flight teams. Barcelona hammered eight past lowly Huesca even without their all-star front line, Pedro helping himself to a first half hat-trick, and Atlético went through thanks to a big win in the first leg against L’Hospitalet, although the Catalans held them to a 2-2 draw in the Calderón stadium, Mandzukic getting both goals for the locals. Elsewhere Gerard Moreno scored twice late on as Villarreal beat Cádiz 3-0, Paco Alcácer also netted a brace as Valencia scraped through in a thrilling 4-4 draw against Rayo, and Larrivey started things off for Celta as they overturned a first leg defeat to beat Las Palmas 3-1.

With Madrid not playing in the last round of league matches of 2014, second placed Barcelona took advantage to close the gap on them to a point after a 5-0 victory over Córdoba. Pedro scored again and Messi got the last two, taking him on to 23 for all competitions this year, nine below Ronaldo, who coincidentally has converted nine penalties to Messi’s none! Meanwhile Atlético consolidated third spot, coming from behind to beat Athletic Bilbao 1-4. With Mandzukic suspended, Griezmann banged home a hat-trick, and Raúl García got the other goal from the penalty spot to keep his team three points behind Barça in the table. Valencia stay fourth after a 0-1 victory at Eibar, Alcácer scoring his third goal in a week, and Villarreal go above Sevilla on goal difference to fifth after beating Deportivo 3-0, Vietto scoring twice to take his tally for the season to twelve. Elsewhere Espanyol clocked up their first away win of the season in the league, beating Rayo Vallecano 1-3 with two from Sergio García. Baptistao was the scorer for Rayo. (23.12.14)
Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 25 0 7 32 (9)
Messi (Barcelona) 15 0 8 23 (0)
Neymar (Barcelona) 11 0 3 14 (0)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 8 0 6 14 (0)
Mandzukic (Atlético) 6 3 5 14 (0)
Vietto (Villarreal) 7 0 5 12 (0)
Bacca (Sevilla) 10 0 1 11 (3)
Bale (Real Madrid) 7 0 4 11 (0)
Griezmann (Atlético) 6 1 2 9 (0)
James (Real Madrid) 5 3 1 9 (0)
Gerard Moreno (Villarreal) 2 3 4 9 (0)
Larrivey (Celta) 7 1 0 8 (0)
Stuani (Espanyol) 6 2 0 8 (1)
Alcácer (Valencia) 5 3 0 8 (0)
Aduríz (Athletic Bilbao) 5 0 3 8 (1)
Sergio García (Espanyol) 7 0 0 7 (0)
Baptistao (Rayo Vallecano) 7 0 0 7 (0)
Pedro (Barcelona) 3 4 0 7 (0)
Aspas (Sevilla) 0 6 1 7 (1)
Jonathas (Elche) 6 0 0 6 (0)
Bueno (Rayo Vallecano) 6 0 0 6 (1)
Vela (Real Sociedad) 6 0 0 6 (0)
M`bia (Sevilla) 4 0 2 6 (0)
Raúl García (Atlético) 3 1 2 6 (2)