As usual coaches gave a run out to some of their lesser used players in the early rounds of the cup, and it is therefore no surprise that the leading scorers in that competition are not amongst the top names in the Pichichi table. Munir for example got both of Barcelona’s goals in a 0-2 win at city neighbours Espanyol, and he moves on to four, level with Guidetti and Negredo (Aduríz has five in our chart, but four of his goals were in another domestic cup competition, the Spanish Super Cup). Guidetti added to his two in the first leg against Cádiz with a penalty in the return match, and although Negredo didn’t find the net, his hat-trick in the opening game against Granada keeps him in the running. Some of our front runners did however get on the scoresheet, Griezmann coming on as substitute for Atletico against Rayo to help himself to a brace, Williams getting the only goal for Athletic which takes them through against Villarreal, Gameiro netting one of Sevilla’s four against city rivals Betis, Paco Alcácer banging one in for Valencia, and Sergi Enrich scoring for Eibar, albeit that they were knocked out by Las Palmas.

So to the weekend, and it was record 41 goals in the ten games played out at the start of the second half of the season! Always looking for a new slant, the Spanish press came up with the phrase “the Magnificent Seven”, all of whom found the net on Sunday. First up were Real Madrid’s “BBC”, Bale getting the opener and Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo scoring two each in a 5-1 win against Sporting Gijón. Barcelona’s “MSN” responded against Athletic Bilbao later in the evening, a Messi penalty, a Neymar strike and a second half hat-trick from the new “Pichichi” Luis Suárez helping them to a resounding 6-0 victory. And on Sunday the Yul Brynner of them all Griezmann netted twice as Atlético beat Las Palmas 0-3 to stay top for another week.

The highest scoring match of the lot though was in Vigo, where fifth placed Celta edged out bottom club Levante by the odd goal in a seven goal thriller. Two from Guidetti and a third from Iago Aspas appeared to have given the Galicians an easy three points, but the visitors came back to set up a nail-biting finish. Another six goals on Monday as well, Sergi Enrich and Borja Bastón netting in pairs as Eibar thrashed Granada to stay in sixth spot for another week. Elsewhere Gameiro got two in as many minutes as Sevilla beat Málaga 2-1, Charles replying for the away side, and Negredo and Paco Alcácer were both on target for Valencia, although the Ches had to make do with a 2-2 draw against Rayo Vallecano. Pity the poor goalkeepers! (19.01.16)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Luis Suárez (Barcelona) 18 0 11 29 (2)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 16 0 11 27 (6)
Aduríz (Athletic Bilbao) 11 5 6 22 (3)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 16 0 4 20 (0)
Neymar (Barcelona) 16 1 2 19 (4)
Messi (Barcelona) 10 3 6 19 (2)
Griezmann (Atlético) 12 2 4 18 (0)
Gameiro (Sevilla) 11 1 2 14 (5)
Bale (Real Madrid) 13 0 0 13 (0)
Borja Bastón (Eibar) 12 1 0 13 (1)
Lucas Pérez (Deportivo) 12 0 0 12 (1)
Agirretxe (Real Sociedad) 12 0 0 12 (0)
Bakambu (Villarreal) 8 1 3 12 (0)
Iago Aspas (Celta) 9 2 0 11 (0)
Alcácer (Valencia) 9 1 0 10 (2)
Williams (Athletic) 6 2 2 10 (0)
Javi Guerra (Rayo) 9 0 0 9 (0)
Rubén Castro (Betis) 8 0 0 8 (2)
Nolito (Celta) 8 0 0 8 (1)
Charles (Málaga) 8 0 0 8 (0)
Sergi Enrich (Eibar) 6 2 0 8 (0)
Caicedo (Espanyol) 5 2 0 7 (0)
Parejo (Valencia) 5 1 1 7 (3)
Guidetti (Celta) 3 4 0 7 (1)
Negredo (Valencia) 2 4 1 7 (2)