Real Madrid and Barcelona will be joining Atlético Madrid in the knock-out stage of the Champions League after they won their respective games midweek, and Sevilla should also go through barring a disaster in their last group match in a fortnight’s time. For the second time in the group stage, Real Madrid beat Sporting Lisbon 2-1 thanks to a late goal, this time Benzema heading the winner after Varane’s opener was cancelled out. Barcelona though had few problems beating Celtic 0-2, Messi getting both goals (including a penalty) to take his tally against the Scottish side to five this season. Atlético themselves made it five wins out of five after winning 2-0 against PSV Eindhoven, strikes there from Gameiro and Griezmann, and although Sevilla lost 1-3 to Juventus (despite going one up through Nico Pareja), they can afford to lose by one goal in Lyon and still qualify for the last sixteen. Spain’s Europe League sides still have work to do however, although Athletic Bilbao at least made sure of finishing in the top two in their group after a 3-2 victory over Sassuolo, Raúl García, Aduríz and Lekue the scorers. The other two teams drew their ties 1-1 though, and they now need wins in their last matches to reach the next stage. Iago Aspas (for Celta) and Bruno (for Villarreal) did give them both the lead against Standard Liège and FC Zurich, but in the end they had to share the points, and to add to their woes, Celta’s Aspas was sent off near the end.

One week away from the next “clásico” in the Nou Camp, and Real Madrid have opened up a six point gap over Barcelona after the weekend results. Real Madrid beat Sporting Gijón 2-1, Ronaldo scoring with a penalty and a diving header to move to the top of the league “Pichichi” charts, but Barça were held to a 1-1 draw at their bogey team Real Sociedad, Messi saving a point after Willian José had headed the locals in to the lead. Sevilla are now level with the Catalans after a 2-1 win over Valencia, and Atlético are back up to fourth after a 0-3 victory at Osasuna, Gameiro and Carrasco amongst the scorers there. Elsewhere Sandro was on target as Málaga beat Deportivo by the odd goal in a seven goal thriller, and Piatti set up Moreno and then scored two himself against Leganés as Espanyol won for the first time at home this season. Pedro León (Eibar), Rubén Castro (Betis) and Iago Aspas (Celta) alll added to their tallies as well, and on Monday night Boateng got one of the Las Palmas goals in a 3-1 win over Athletic Bilbao, Raúl García replying for the Basque side from the penalty spot. (29.11.16)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Messi (Barcelona) 9 1 9 19 (3)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 10 0 2 12 (3)
Luis Suárez (Barcelona) 8 1 2 11 (0)
Aduríz (Athletic) 5 0 6 11 (4)
Iago Aspas (Celta) 7 0 2 9 (2)
Griezmann (Atlético) 6 0 3 9 (0)
Carrasco (Atlético) 6 0 2 8 (0)
Morata (Real Madrid) 4 2 2 8 (0)
Willian José (Real Soc) 7 0 0 7 (2)
Gameiro (Atlético) 6 0 1 7 (1)
Bale (Real Madrid) 5 0 2 7 (0)
Gerard Moreno (Espanyol) 6 0 0 6 (0)
Sandro (Málaga) 6 0 0 6 (0)
Raúl García (Athletic) 5 0 1 6 (1)
Neymar (Barcelona) 4 0 2 6 (1)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 4 0 2 6 (0)
Asensio (Real Madrid) 2 2 2 6 (0)
Rafinha (Barcelona) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Rubén Castro (Betis) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Pedro León (Eibar) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Piatti (Espanyol) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Boateng (Las Palmas) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Duje Cop (Sporting) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Sansone (Villarreal) 5 0 0 5 (1)
Vietto (Sevilla) 4 0 1 5 (0)
Ben Yedder (Sevilla) 3 0 2 5 (0)
Arda Turan (Barcelona) 2 2 1 5 (0)