Neymar put paid to Atlético Madrid in the midweek Copa del Rey quarter final second leg, the Brazilian striker’s two goals helping to turn things around after Fernando Torres and then Raúl García (from the penalty spot) had twice given the locals the lead. Miranda also put through his own net as Barça won 2-3 to set up a semi-final against Villarreal, Gerard Moreno getting the only goal at Getafe to take his team further in the competition than they have ever been. The other semi-final will be between 23 time winners Athletic Bilbao and four time winners Espanyol. The Basque side beat Málaga 1-0 with a strike by Aduríz, and the Catalans go through 3-2 on aggregate despite losing 1-0 in Sevilla, Diogo’s goal coming too late to change the result.

Cristiano Ronaldo was suspended this week after his red card against Córdoba, and Messi took advantage to edge closer to him with the winning goal against Villarreal in Sunday’s league game. It was a similar storybook to the midweek cup game, Vietto one of the scorers as the visitors went ahead twice, and Neymar and Rafinha levelling it before Messi fired in a house-special. Madrid didn’t need Ronaldo however, even though they too were behind against Real Sociedad at the start, James, Ramos and Benzema (two) getting the goals in a 4-1 win which keeps them at the top of the table. And Atlético stay in touch with the top two after they won 1-3 at a rainy Eibar, Griezmann opening the scoring and Mandzukic adding two more with less than half an hour gone.

Sevilla are up to fourth after a late 3-2 victory against Espanyol, some consolation at least after their midweek cup defeat at the hands of the same opponents. Stuani put the visitors in front from the penalty spot early on, but substitute Iago Aspas got the winner in the last minute. Espanyol’s semi-final rivals Athletic seem to have returned to form as well, Aduríz scoring at the start and finish of the second half in a 0-2 win at Levante, but Rayo are heading the other way, Alberto Bueno’s strike not enough to prevent a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Deportivo on Friday night. (03.02.15)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 28 1 7 36 (10)
Messi (Barcelona) 22 2 8 32 (2)
Neymar (Barcelona) 15 4 3 22 (0)
Mandzukic (Atlético) 10 3 5 18 (2)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 11 0 6 17 (0)
Vietto (Villarreal) 10 0 5 15 (0)
Bacca (Sevilla) 12 1 1 14 (4)
Griezmann (Atlético) 11 1 2 14 (0)
Bale (Real Madrid) 10 0 4 14 (1)
Aduríz (Athletic Bilbao) 7 3 3 13 (2)
Stuani (Espanyol) 9 3 0 12 (2)
James (Real Madrid) 7 3 1 11 (0)
Gerard Moreno (Villarreal) 2 5 4 11 (0)
Caicedo (Espanyol) 6 3 0 9 (0)
Pedro (Barcelona) 4 5 0 9 (1)
Raúl García (Atlético) 4 3 2 9 (4)
Aspas (Sevilla) 1 7 1 9 (1)
Jonathas (Elche) 8 0 0 8 (0)
Larrivey (Celta) 7 1 0 8 (0)
Sergio García (Espanyol) 7 1 0 8 (2)
Vela (Real Sociedad) 7 1 0 8 (1)
Alcácer (Valencia) 5 3 0 8 (0)
Gameiro (Sevilla) 2 5 1 8 (1)
Baptistao (Rayo Vallecano) 7 0 0 7 (0)
Bueno (Rayo Vallecano) 7 0 0 7 (1)
Dani Parejo (Valencia) 7 0 0 7 (1)