Not a particularly inspiring week in the Champions League for La Liga sides, with the fate of all four already decided. On Tuesday Barcelona confirmed top spot in group B with a 1-1 draw against Tottenham, Dembélé getting the goal, and Atlético Madrid also drew 0-0 at Club Brugge, a result which left them in second place in group A. The following day Real Madrid were surprisingly beaten 0-3 by CSKA Moscow (albeit that they still topped group G), and Valencia won 2-1 against Manchester United thanks to a Carlos Soler strike and a Jones own goal, at least giving them a seeded spot in the Europa League after finishing third in group H. Thursday’s Europa League games were more interesting though, Villarreal and Sevilla both securing their places in the knock-out stage as group champions after beating Russian opposition, the former 2-0 versus Spartak Moscow (goals by Chukwueze and Ekambi), and the latter 3-0 versus Krasnodar (two from Ben Yedder and a Banega penalty). Betis also finish in first place in their group despite a 0-0 draw at Luxembourg’s Dudelange.

Last season Barcelona’s only league defeat came on the penultimate weekend at Levante, but on Sunday they made sure that didn’t happen again, Messi netting his 31 st Liga hat-trick and Luis Suárez also on target in a 0-5 victory. They stay three points clear of Sevilla, who beat Girona 2-0 (another Banega penalty and a strike by Sarabia), and Atlético, who won 2-3 at Valladolid, with two from Griezmann, including a penalty. Real Madrid consolidated fourth spot with a 1-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano, Benzema giving them the three points prior to leaving for Abu Dhabi for the Club World Cup, and Betis are now fifth after a 1-3 win at Espanyol, Lo Celso starting things off for the Andalusians. .Elsewhere a Bacca penalty and a Gerard Moreno strike were only enough to give Villarreal a 2-2 draw against bottom club Huesca, and a Charles penalty helped Eibar to a 1-1 draw against Valencia after Rodrigo had given the Ches the lead. (18.12.18)

Pichichi League Cup ** Europe * Total (Penalties)
Messi (Barcelona) 14 0 6 20 (1)
Sarabia (Sevilla) 6 1 7 14 (1)
Ben Yedder (Sevilla) 7 0 6 13 (0)
Luis Suárez (Barcelona) 11 0 0 11 (2)
Stuani (Girona) 11 0 0 11 (2)
Iago Aspas (Celta) 10 1 0 11 (0)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 6 1 4 11 (1)
Griezmann (Atlético) 6 0 4 10 (1)
André Silva (Sevilla) 8 1 0 9 (0)
Dembélé (Barcelona) 6 1 2 9 (0)
Ekambi (Villarreal) 2 4 3 9 (0)
Maxi Gómez (Celta) 8 0 0 8 (0)
Borja Iglesias (Espanyol) 8 0 0 8 (0)
Roger (Levante) 8 0 0 8 (1)
Lo Celso (Betis) 4 1 3 8 (1)
Banega (Sevilla) 3 0 5 8 (5)
Charles (Eibar) 6 1 0 7 (4)
Bacca (Villarreal) 4 2 1 7 (1)
Moreno (Villarreal) 4 1 2 7 (0)
Bale (Real Madrid) 4 0 3 7 (0)
Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad) 5 1 0 6 (2)
Williams (Athletic) 4 2 0 6 (0)
Angel (Getafe) 3 3 0 6 (1)
Santi Mina (Valencia) 2 2 2 6 (0)

* Includes European Super Cup
** Includes Spanish Super Cup