The Champions League returned this week, although there were mixed results for Spanish sides. On Tuesday Barcelona drew 0-0 at Borussia Dortmund and Valencia beat Chelsea 0-1 thanks to a strike by Rodrigo, but Real Madrid lost 3-0 to PSG on Wednesday, and Atlético struggled to draw 2-2 against Juventus, Savic and Herrera getting the goals later on. Better luck though (against easier opposition!) for La Liga’s Europa League teams, Sevilla winning 0-3 at Qarabag with goals from Chicharito, Munir and Oliver Torres, Getafe beating Trabzonspor 1-0 with an early strike from Angel, and Espanyol drawing 1-1 at home to Ferencvaros, Vargas saving a point for the Catalans there.

League fixtures either side of that, with Benzema and Gerard Moreno helping themselves to two each in week 4. With Messi and Suárez both non-starters at Barcelona, the new boy on the block was 16 year old Ansu Fati, who scored within two minutes of making his first start (already his second goal), then set up De Jong for a second just four minutes later. A name to watch!

Week 5 saw Barcelona surprisingly beaten 2-0 by newly promoted Granada, even with all their big guns, and they are four points behind joint leaders Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid. Raúl García started things off for the Basque team from the penalty spot against Alavés, and Benzema headed the only goal for Madrid at Sevilla. Elsewhere Willian José (Real Sociedad) and Budimir (Mallorca) both helped themselves to braces, although in the latter case it didn’t help much as the islanders lost 4-2 at Getafe. (23.09.19)

Pichichi League Cup ** Europe * Total (Penalties)
Ferreyra (Espanyol) 1 0 6 7 (0)
Benzema (Real Madrid) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Moreno (Villarreal) 5 0 0 5 (0)
Vargas (Espanyol) 0 0 4 4 (0)
Raúl García (Athletic) 3 0 0 3 (0)
Loren (Betis) 3 0 0 3 (0)
Dani Parejo (Valencia) 3 0 0 3 (3)
Borja Iglesias (Betis) 0 0 3 3 (0)
Joselu (Alavés) 2 0 0 2 (0)
Vitolo (Atlético) 2 0 0 2 (0)
Griezmann (Barcelona) 2 0 0 2 (0)
Fekir (Betis) 2 0 0 2 (0)
Puertas (Granada) 2 0 0 2 (0)
Roger (Levante) 2 0 0 2 (2)
Roberto Torres (Osasuna) 2 0 0 2 (1)
Bale (Real Madrid) 2 0 0 2 (0)
Guardiola (Valladolid) 2 0 0 2 (0)
Moi Gómez (Villarreal) 2 0 0 2 (0)

* Includes European Super Cup
** Includes Spanish Super Cup