Fernando Torres is back! With Mandzukic out with flu, “El Niño” was given a place in the Atlético’s starting line up for the cup tie against Real Madrid, and he duly obliged by netting in the first minute of both halves, the first goals he has ever scored in the Bernabeu stadium! Headers by Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo saved a draw on the night for the defending champions, but Atleti go through to a quarter final meeting with Barcelona, who thrashed Elche 9-0 on aggregate! After the five goals in the first leg Luis Enrique rested his “three tenors”, but Pedro captained the team and converted a penalty in a 0-4 win, his fifth goal in the cup this season. Sevilla’s Gameiro also has five after scoring twice in a 4-0 victory over Granada, although the top scorer in the competition is his team-mate Iago Aspas, who netted his seventh in the same match. Villarreal’s Gerard Moreno got his fourth cup goal to knock Real Sociedad out of the tournament, Carlos Vela replying in a 2-2 draw in the return leg, and Espanyol’s Caicedo scored twice late on to dump Valencia out as well.

The league reached the half-way stage this weekend, with Ronaldo and Messi keeping up their battle as the big two fight it out for the title (Atlético permitting!). Real Madrid were first up on Sunday, Ronaldo scoring twice and Bale getting one in-between in a 0-3 win at Getafe which ensures them the honourary title of winter champions (with a game still in hand). Barça responded though with a 0-4 victory at Deportivo, Messi notching up his 22 nd league hat-trick, the same number as the legendary Zarra and one behind Ronaldo. Atlético stay in sight of the leaders however after beating Granada 2-0 thanks to a Mandzukic penalty and a goal off who knows which part of his body by Raúl García, and Sevilla are not far behind in fourth, Bacca on target in a 2-0 win over Málaga. Meanwhile Caicedo added to his brace in the cup with a last minute winner against Celta, and Jonathas got the only goal as Elche beat Levante 1-0 to move out of the bottom three. (19.01.15)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 28 1 7 36 (10)
Messi (Barcelona) 19 1 8 28 (1)
Neymar (Barcelona) 12 2 3 17 (0)
Mandzukic (Atlético) 8 3 5 16 (2)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 8 0 6 14 (0)
Bale (Real Madrid) 9 0 4 13 (0)
Vietto (Villarreal) 8 0 5 13 (0)
Bacca (Sevilla) 11 0 1 12 (3)
Griezmann (Atlético) 8 1 2 11 (0)
James (Real Madrid) 6 3 1 10 (0)
Aduríz (Athletic Bilbao) 5 2 3 10 (2)
Gerard Moreno (Villarreal) 2 4 4 10 (0)
Stuani (Espanyol) 6 3 0 9 (1)
Jonathas (Elche) 8 0 0 8 (0)
Larrivey (Celta) 7 1 0 8 (0)
Vela (Real Sociedad) 7 1 0 8 (1)
Alcácer (Valencia) 5 3 0 8 (0)
Raúl García (Atlético) 4 2 2 8 (3)
Pedro (Barcelona) 3 5 0 8 (1)
Gameiro (Sevilla) 2 5 1 8 (1)
Aspas (Sevilla) 0 7 1 8 (1)
Sergio García (Espanyol) 7 0 0 7 (1)
Baptistao (Rayo Vallecano) 7 0 0 7 (0)
Caicedo (Espanyol) 5 2 0 7 (0)