Real Madrid’s “epic night” referred to in our last report actually happened, Zidane’s side beating Wolfsburg 3-0 in the second leg of their Champions League quarter final to go through to the semi-finals! It was only though thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo, his 37th hat-trick in a Madrid shirt deciding the tie in their favour. That takes him on to 16 for the competition, just one short of his own previous record. His closest rival Messi will not be competing with him this year though after Barcelona were knocked out by fellow Spaniards Atlético Madrid. Griezmann got both of the goals, the second from the penalty spot, to knock the Catalans out for the second time in three years. On Thursday three more Liga teams were in action in the Europa League, the tie between Sevilla and Athletic so close it went down to penalties. Aduríz put the Basque side ahead before limping off with an injury, his tenth goal in the competition to date, and although Gameiro replied for the Andalusians, a Raúl García header set up the shoot-out. Sevilla won that though, and they go through for a shot at their third title in a row. Villarreal are still in the competition as well after they won 2-4 at Sparta Prague, Bakambu getting two of their goals to take his own tally to nine in the E-League.

More drama at the weekend, with leaders Barcelona losing again, this time 1-2 at home to Valencia. Messi did get his 450th for Barcelona, which together with 50 for Argentina takes him on to 500, but it was not enough to prevent a third league defeat in a row! Atlético Madrid are now level with Luis Enrique’s side after they won 3-0 against Granada, Fernando Torres one of the scorers there, and Real Madrid are just a point behind both of them after they thrashed Getafe 1-5, the “BBC” (Benzema, Bale & Cristiano) getting one apiece. Elsewhere Raúl García scored again at Málaga to take Athletic up to fifth, Sergi Enrich was on target for Eibar in a 2-1 victory over neighbours Real Sociedad, and Javi Guerra got a vital goal for Rayo in a 2-1 win over Villarreal which takes them four points clear of the drop zone. (18.04.16)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 31 0 16 47 (8)
Luis Suárez (Barcelona) 26 5 14 45 (2)
Messi (Barcelona) 23 6 9 38 (4)
Aduríz (Athletic Bilbao) 17 6 10 33 (3)
Griezmann (Atlético) 20 3 6 29 (2)
Neymar (Barcelona) 21 3 3 27 (5)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 22 0 4 26 (0)
Gameiro (Sevilla) 15 3 6 24 (6)
Bakambu (Villarreal) 12 1 9 22 (0)
Borja Bastón (Eibar) 17 1 0 18 (2)
Rubén Castro (Betis) 17 0 0 17 (2)
Lucas Pérez (Deportivo) 16 0 0 16 (1)
Bale (Real Madrid) 16 0 0 16 (0)
Iago Aspas (Celta) 11 4 0 15 (0)
Agirretxe (Real Sociedad) 13 0 0 13 (0)
Williams (Athletic) 8 3 2 13 (0)
Guidetti (Celta) 7 5 0 12 (2)
Negredo (Valencia) 5 5 2 12 (2)
Nolito (Celta) 11 0 0 11 (1)
Javi Guerra (Rayo) 11 0 0 11 (0)
Sanabria (Sporting) 11 0 0 11 (1)
El-Arabi (Granada) 10 1 0 11 (4)
Alcácer (Valencia) 9 2 0 11 (2)
Charles (Málaga) 10 0 0 10 (0)
Parejo (Valencia) 7 1 2 10 (3)
Deyverson (Levante) 9 0 0 9 (0)
Jozabed (Rayo) 9 0 0 9 (0)
Willian José (Las Palmas) 8 1 0 9 (0)
Fernando Torres (Atlético) 8 0 1 9 (0)
Sergi Enrich (Eibar) 7 2 0 9 (0)
Caicedo (Espanyol) 7 2 0 9 (0)
Raúl García (Athletic) 5 1 3 9 (0)
Banega (Sevilla) 5 1 3 9 (3)