We are already in to the semi-finals of the Spanish cup, Barcelona on track for a fourth final in a row after beating Atlético Madrid 1-2 in their first leg tie on Wednesday evening. Luis Suárez and Messi put the Catalans two up at the break, but a Griezmann header from a set-piece free kick gave Atleti a slim hope of turning things around in the Nou Camp next week. The other semi-final is between two teams who have never won the competition, Celta and Alavés. Their tie will be decided next Wednesday though after the first leg ended without goals in a rainy Balaidos stadium.

The bad weather in Galicia continued on until the weekend, and as result the matches between Deportivo and Betis on Friday, and between Celta and Real Madrid on Sunday, were both called off. Barcelona took advantage to move to within a point of Madrid in the table, Messi one of the scorers in a 3-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday. Sevilla drop two points below the Catalans after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Villarreal the following day, and Atlético consolidated fourth spot with a 2-0 win over neighbours Leganés, Fernando Torres getting both goals, the second in particular a carbon copy of the one he scored against Germany to give Spain the European title in 2008! Real Sociedad stay a point behind Atleti though after a 3-2 victory over Osasuna, Juanmi coming on to score his side’s third within a minute of making his appearance, and Eibar are closing in on the European spots after they thrashed Valencia 0-4, Sergi Enrich getting the first and the last of those goals in the Mestalla stadium. (07.02.17)

Pichichi League Cup ** Europe * Total (Penalties)
Messi (Barcelona) 16 5 10 31 (4)
Luis Suárez (Barcelona) 16 4 2 22 (0)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 13 1 6 20 (5)
Iago Aspas (Celta) 11 2 2 15 (3)
Ben Yedder (Sevilla) 8 5 2 15 (3)
Griezmann (Atlético) 8 4 3 15 (0)
Aduríz (Athletic) 7 1 6 14 (6)
Arda Turan (Barcelona) 3 6 4 13 (0)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 5 1 6 12 (0)
Willian José (Real Soc) 9 2 0 11 (2)
Juanmi (Real Sociedad) 6 4 0 10 (0)
Vietto (Sevilla) 6 3 1 10 (0)
Carrasco (Atlético) 6 2 2 10 (0)
Morata (Real Madrid) 6 2 2 10 (0)
Sergi Enrich (Eibar) 8 1 0 9 (0)
Sandro (Málaga) 7 2 0 9 (0)
Raúl García (Athletic) 5 3 1 9 (1)
Neymar (Barcelona) 5 2 2 9 (3)
Rubén Castro (Betis) 8 0 0 8 (1)
Gerard Moreno (Espanyol) 8 0 0 8 (0)
Sansone (Villarreal) 7 0 1 8 (1)
Gameiro (Atlético) 6 1 1 8 (1)
Ramos (Real Madrid) 6 1 1 8 (1)

* Includes Club World Cup
** Includes Spanish Super Cup