Barcelona will be missing Messi for a month or so after he fell and broke his arm early on in Saturday’s game against last week’s leaders Sevilla. However fifteen minutes was enough for him to set up Coutinho for the opener and score a second himself, and a Luis Suárez penalty and a strike by Rakitic gave the Catalans a 4-2 win which took them above their opponents to top spot. Barça’s city rivals Espanyol are now second after they beat Huesca 0-2, Borja Iglesias getting both goals either side of the break, but Real Madrid continue to struggle after they were surprisingly beaten 1-2 by Levante, a Morales strike and a Roger penalty putting the visitors two up with less than a quarter of an hour gone. Marcelo did eventually get one back though with twenty minutes to go, stopping the clock at just over eight hours without a single goal, the worst run in Madrid’s history. They visit the Nou camp next Sunday, although whether coach Lopetegui will still be in charge or not is a moot point. (23.10.18)

Pichichi League Cup ** Europe * Total (Penalties)
Messi (Barcelona) 7 0 5 12 (0)
Ben Yedder (Sevilla) 5 0 4 9 (0)
Sarabia (Sevilla) 2 1 6 9 (0)
Stuani (Girona) 8 0 0 8 (1)
André Silva (Sevilla) 7 0 0 7 (0)
Iago Aspas (Celta) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Roger (Levante) 5 0 0 5 (1)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 4 0 1 5 (1)
Dembélé (Barcelona) 3 1 1 5 (0)
Banega (Sevilla) 2 0 3 5 (2)
Maxi Gómez (Celta) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Borja Iglesias (Espanyol) 4 0 0 4 (0)
Luis Suárez (Barcelona) 4 0 0 4 (1)
Morales (Levante) 4 0 0 4 (1)
Coutinho (Barcelona) 3 0 1 4 (0)
Bale (Real Madrid) 3 0 1 4 (0)
Griezmann (Atlético) 2 0 2 4 (0)

* Includes European Super Cup
** Includes Spanish Super Cup