Real Madrid and Barcelona are both looking good for a place in the Champions League semi-finals after convincing victories in their first leg ties. Real Madrid won 0-3 at Juventus in a repeat of last season’s final, Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice to take his tally for the competition this season to 14, and Marcelo adding a third later on. Ronaldo’s second goal in particular is one that will be remembered for a long time, his spectacular overhead kick past Buffon even bringing the home crowd to their feet. Barcelona meanwhile won 4-1 against Roma, thanks in part to two own goals, as well as strikes by Piqué and Luis Suárez (his first in Europe this year), and they seem on track for a first appearance in the last four in three years. Sevilla though are close to being knocked out after they lost 1-2 against Bayern Munich, Sarabia’s opener being cancelled out by two goals from fellow Spaniards, a Jesús Navas own goal, and a header by Thiago. And on Thursday Atlético Madrid staked their claim for a place in the last four of the Europa League, a goal by Koke with only 20 seconds on the clock, and another by Griezmann later on the first half giving them a 2-0 win over Sporting Lisbon.

Ronaldo’s goals in Europe took him past Messi in the Pichichi chart, but the Barcelona forward bounced back with a hat-trick in the Saturday league game against Leganés, his 40 th for the club helping them to a record run of 38 league games without defeat. The Catalans now have a lead of 11 points over the rest after Real Madrid and Atlético drew 1-1 in their city derby, Ronaldo putting the locals in front, but Griezmann saving a point soon afterwards. Valencia took advantage to move above Real Madrid to third after a 1-0 win over Espanyol, Rodrigo getting the goal there, and Betis are now fifth after beating Eibar 2-0, Sergio León the first scorer for the Andalusians. They are now three points clear of city rivals Sevilla, who lost 4-0 at Celta, thanks mainly to a second half hat-trick from Iago Aspas, and the Europa League spots are wide open after Villarreal were also beaten 1-3 by Athletic Bilbao on Monday, Bacca’s goal not enough to prevent defeat. Further down the table Alavés and Real Sociedad both won to more or less assure their places in the top flight for another season, Munir on target for the former in 1 a 2-0 victory over Getafe, and Oyarzabal scoring twice for the latter as they thrashed Girona 5-0 to give caretaker coach Imanol a first win. (10.04.18)

Pichichi League Cup ** Europe * Total (Penalties)
Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 23 1 16 40 (6)
Messi (Barcelona) 29 4 6 39 (3)
Luis Suárez (Barcelona) 22 3 1 26 (0)
Griezmann (Atlético) 18 2 5 25 (3)
Iago Aspas (Celta) 19 1 0 20 (3)
Aduríz (Athletic) 8 0 11 19 (7)
Ben Yedder (Sevilla) 6 3 10 19 (2)
Rodrigo (Valencia) 15 3 0 18 (1)
Willian José (Real Soc) 13 0 5 18 (2)
Stuani (Girona) 17 0 0 17 (3)
Gerard Moreno (Espanyol) 12 3 0 15 (2)
Maxi Gómez (Celta) 14 0 0 14 (0)
Santi Mina (Valencia) 11 3 0 14 (1)
Bale (Real Madrid) 11 1 2 14 (2)
Bakambu (Villarreal) 9 2 3 14 (1)
Sergio León (Betis) 11 2 0 13 (0)
Bacca (Villarreal) 10 1 2 13 (0)
Angel (Getafe) 12 0 0 12 (0)
Zaza (Valencia) 12 0 0 12 (0)
Portu (Girona) 11 0 0 11 (0)
Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad) 9 0 2 11 (0)
Munir (Alavés) 7 4 0 11 (0)
Raúl García (Athletic) 7 1 3 11 (2)
Calleri (Las Palmas) 7 3 0 10 (3)
Asensio (Real Madrid) 6 4 0 10 (1)
Gameiro (Atlético) 6 1 3 10 (1)

* Includes European Super Cup
** Includes Spanish Super Cup