Barcelona’s first match without the injured Messi, but he wasn’t missed at all as Luis Enrique’s side still hit five past Sporting, Luis Suárez starting things off, Neymar netting two times and Arda Turan also on the scoresheet. They move to within a point of leaders Real Madrid, who were held to a 2-2 draw at Las Palmas. Asensio and then Benzema twice gave the Merengues the lead, but Tana and then Araujo levelled it both times. The big talking point though was that Zidane actually dared to substitute Cristiano Ronaldo with twenty minutes still to go, something up to now unprecedented (injuries excepted)! Luis Suárez now leads the league Pichichi chart with five goals, together with Griezmann, who came to the rescue to give Atlético Madrid a 1-0 win over Deportivo. Atleti are now third, but level on points with Athletic and Villarreal, who both clocked up 3-1 victories over Sevilla and Osasuna respectively. Aduríz converted a late penalty for the Basque side, albeit against makeshift goalkeeper Iborra, and Pato and Sansone were both on target for the “Yellow Submarine”. (27.09.16)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Luis Suárez (Barcelona) 5 1 2 8 (0)
Messi (Barcelona) 4 1 3 8 (1)
Griezmann (Atlético) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Rubén Castro (Betis) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Moreno (Espanyol) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Sansone (Villarreal) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Neymar (Barcelona) 3 0 1 4 (0)
Turan (Barcelona) 2 2 0 4 (0)
Aduríz (Athletic) 3 0 0 3 (1)
Pedro León (Eibar) 3 0 0 3 (0)
Tana (Las Palmas) 3 0 0 3 (0)
Willian José (Real Soc) 3 0 0 3 (1)
Vietto (Sevilla) 3 0 0 3 (0)
Cop (Sporting Gijón) 3 0 0 3 (2)
Asensio (Real Madrid) 2 0 1 3 (0)
Ramos (Real Madrid) 2 0 1 3 (0)
Alexandre Pato (Villarreal) 1 0 2 3 (0)