All seven Spanish clubs competing in Europe this season are through to the knock-out stage after the last round of group fixtures this week. Sevilla were the only one of the Champions League sides not to tie things up three weeks ago, but a 0-0 draw at Olympique Lyon saw them in to the last sixteen. Barcelona were already sure of top spot however, and they rounded things off with a 4-0 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach, Messi getting his tenth of the group stage (just one short of Ronaldo’s record) before Arda Turan came in with a hat-trick. Atlético also finish first in their group despite a 1-0 defeat at Bayern Munich, but Real Madrid had to settle for second after a 2-2 draw against Borussia Dortmund, Benzema’s two goals being cancelled out by the German side later on. On Thursday all three La Liga teams ended up as runners up in their group, Guidetti and Orellana (from the penalty spot) the scorers as Celta beat Panathinaikos 0-2. Villarreal secured their place with a 2-1 win over Steaua Bucharest, Sansone and Trigueros getting the goals there, and Athletic Bilbao drew 1-1 at Rapid Vienna, Saborit saving a point late on.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane rested Ronaldo and Benzema at the weekend for the upcoming Club World Cup, but his team were still able to come from behind to beat Deportivo 3-2, Sergio Ramos the saviour once again in injury time. Morata was also on target though to ensure that Madrid go in to the new year as leaders, although Messi will be the new league “Pichichi” after scoring twice against bottom club Osasuna, Luis Suárez also on the scoresheet in Pamplona. Elsewhere Willan José netted two early headers against struggling Valencia to take Real Sociedad up to fifth, Rubén Castro got the only goal for Betis in a 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao, and Sporting’s Duje Cop fired in a late consolation at Espanyol to end Diego López’s run of five matches without letting in a goal. (13.12.16)

Pichichi League Cup Europe Total (Penalties)
Messi (Barcelona) 11 1 10 22 (3)
Luis Suárez (Barcelona) 10 1 2 13 (0)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 10 0 2 12 (3)
Iago Aspas (Celta) 9 0 2 11 (2)
Aduríz (Athletic) 5 0 6 11 (4)
Carrasco (Atlético) 6 2 2 10 (0)
Willian José (Real Soc) 9 0 0 9 (2)
Griezmann (Atlético) 6 0 3 9 (0)
Morata (Real Madrid) 5 2 2 9 (0)
Raúl García (Athletic) 5 2 1 8 (1)
Ben Yedder (Sevilla) 4 2 2 8 (3)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 4 0 4 8 (0)
Arda Turan (Barcelona) 2 2 4 8 (0)
Rubén Castro (Betis) 7 0 0 7 (1)
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)
Duje Cop (Sporting) 6 0 0 6 (0)
Sansone (Villarreal) 5 0 1 6 (1)
Neymar (Barcelona) 4 0 2 6 (1)
Asensio (Real Madrid) 2 2 2 6 (0)