Sporting Gijón made eight changes to the side which got slightly hammered 6-1 at the weekend for the match against Real Madrid, and got slightly hammered again, losing 7-1.
Van der Vaart helped himself to a first half hat-trick, Raúl bagged a brace and Higuaín and Robben also put their names on the scoresheet. The consolation goal for Sporting was courtesy of Kike Mateo. Real move up to second in La Liga, a point behind Villarreal.
Atlético Madrid are level on points with their city rivals after a 2-1 win over Madrid’s third side Getafe. Sinama-Pongolle opened the scoring midway through the first half, but Albín then equalised for Getafe. The winner came from the boot of David Cortés who put the ball into his own net!
Villarreal are currently top of the pile after a 2-0 victory over Racing Santander, Capdevilla and Llorente were the scorers.
Barcelona only just managed to overcome Betis with a late goal from substitute Gudjohnsen. Earlier, Eto’o had scored twice within six minutes, but strikes from the old and the new, debutant Monzón and the veteran José Marí, cancelled these out. The final score was 3-2.
There are more matches tonight.