A great week for Spanish teams in the Champions League, all four winning to move closer to a place in the knock-out stage. Real Madrid thrashed Legia Warsaw 5-1 on Tuesday with goals from Bale, Asensio, Lucas Vázquez and Morata, as well as an own goal from Jodlowiec, and Sevilla won 0-1 at Dinamo Zagreb, Nasri the scorer there. And on Wednesday Atlético also won 0-1 at Rostov with a strike from Carrasco, and Barcelona humiliated Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, Messi completing his 37 th hat-trick in a Barça shirt before setting up Neymar for the last goal in a 4-0 victory. Not such good news for La Liga’s Europa League teams on Thursday however, Celta and Villarreal both having to come from behind to draw 2-2 against Ajax and Osmanlispor respectively, Fontàs and Orellana netting for the Galicians and N’Diaye and Pato scoring for Fran Escribá’s side. And Athletic Bilbao lost 2-0 at Genk, leaving the Basque team at the bottom of their table at the mid-way stage of .the group.

Messi was at it again on Saturday, scoring two at Valencia, including an injury time winner after the Ches had pulled it back to two all. Luis Suárez got the other goal for Barça (and also provoked the penalty), just a few days after he picked up his second “European Golden Shoe” award as Europe’s top scorer last season. That took the Catalans to top spot overnight, but they were back down to third after Real Madrid and Sevilla both won on Sunday. Madrid left it late before substitute Morata scored the winner against Athletic Bilbao, saving the blushes after Sabin had cancelled out Benzema’s early opener, and they stay a point ahead of the Andalusians after they handed last week’s leaders Atlético their first defeat of the season. Sampaoli’s team gave their opponents a taste of their own medicine, beating them 1-0 with a strike from N’Zonzi.

Only three points separate the top five however in one of the closest fought leagues in a long time, Atleti dropping right down to fifth after Villarreal came from behind to beat Las Palmas 2-1. Boateng got what is surely a candidate for goal of the season to give the Canary Islanders the lead, but a Sansone penalty and an injury time strike from Bakambu kept the “Yellow Submarine” tied up alongside Barcelona. Real Sociedad and Celta are only two points away from the European spots though after they both beat local rivals, Willian José one of the scorers for the former in a 3-0 victory over Alavés, and Iago Aspas netting twice (including a penalty) in a 4-1 win over Deportivo. Osasuna stay in the relegation zone however after they lost 1-2 to Betis on Friday night, Roberto Torres’ fourth goal in as many games not enough to save even a point. (25.10.16)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Messi (Barcelona) 7 1 6 14 (2)
Luis Suárez (Barcelona) 7 1 2 10 (0)
Griezmann (Atlético) 6 0 0 6 (0)
Neymar (Barcelona) 4 0 2 6 (1)
Aduríz (Athletic) 5 0 0 5 (1)
Sansone (Villarreal) 5 0 0 5 (1)
Carrasco (Atlético) 3 0 2 5 (0)
Turan (Barcelona) 2 2 1 5 (0)
Rafinha (Barcelona) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Rubén Castro (Betis) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Iago Aspas (Celta) 4 0 0 4 (2)
Moreno (Espanyol) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Sergio León (Osasuna) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Roberto Torres (Osasuna) 4 0 0 4 (2)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Willian José (Real Soc) 4 0 0 4 (1)
Bale (Real Madrid) 3 0 1 4 (0)
Ben Yedder (Sevilla) 3 0 1 4 (0)
Asensio (Real Madrid) 2 0 2 4 (0)
Morata (Real Madrid) 2 0 2 4 (0)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 2 0 2 4 (0)
Alexandre Pato (Villarreal) 1 0 3 4 (0)