As usual, the early leaders in our Pichichi chart are those that played in official pre-season matches. Aduríz strengthened the theory that he is Spain’s Benjamin Button by scoring three goals in the Europa League qualifiers to take Athletic to within a game of reaching the league stage, and Raúl García got two in the tie against Dinamo Bucharest to start things off. Real Madrid played (and won) both Super Cups, Casemiro and Isco scoring in a 2-1 victory against Manchester United in the European edition, and Zidane’s side winning both legs against arch-rivals Barcelona in the domestic tournament, 1-3 in the Nou Camp and 2-0 in the Bernabeu. Marcos Alonso kept up his record of scoring on his debut in every competition he has played in for Madrid, netting in both legs, with Messi converting a penalty, Piqué putting through his own net and Ronaldo coming on to score and then getting himself sent off in the first match (see “Villains” section for more on that), and Benzema getting the second goal in the return fixture. Meanwhile Sevilla also got off to a good start in their Champions League qualifier, Escudero and Ben Yedder getting the goals in a 1-2 win at Istanbul Basaksehir.

A quieter beginning to the new season at the weekend though, with only 20 goals in the ten games (as opposed to a record 40 last season). Celta’s Maxi Gómez and Girona’s Stuani scored a brace apiece (although neither side won), and Casemiro got one for Real Madrid as they beat Depor 0-3 to start the new campaign where they left off in the old one, at the top of the table. (23.08.17)

Pichichi League Cup ** Europe * Total (Penalties)
Aduríz (Athletic) 0 0 3 3 (1)
Maxi Gómez (Celta) 2 0 0 2 (0)
Stuani (Girona) 2 0 0 2 (0)
Casemiro (Real Madrid) 1 0 1 2 (0)
Asensio (Real Madrid) 0 2 0 2 (0)
Raúl García (Athletic) 0 0 2 2 (0)

* Includes European Super Cup
** Includes Spanish Super Cup