La Liga Results 2014 Week 12: Tracking Final Scores, Top Scorers for Matchday 12

Trust Lionel Messi to upstage Cristiano Ronaldo. Even when the Real Madrid forward reaches double, double digits for goals this early in the season, Messi overshadows him by joining the record books.

The pocket-edition Barcelona attacker became La Liga's most prolific goalscorer after he bagged a hat-trick to help thrash Sevilla. Squawka Football detailed Messi's phenomenal achievement:

Messi's efforts moved him up a slot on the scoring charts, but the top two places remain the same. Ronaldo leads the way as the top scorer in the league—having an amazing 20 goals to his name already, proving why he is indeed the reigning Ballon D'Or holder.

CR7 is nine goals clear of the chasing pack, with Neymar his closest rival on 11 goals.

Athletic Bilbao's Aritz Aduriz fired his way into the top 10 on Friday night, as the Lions defeated Espanyol at home 3-1.

This leaves Aduriz now on five goals for the season, putting him level on goals with Gareth Bale.

Here is the full schedule for Matchday 12:

Date	Home	Score	Away
Friday, Nov. 21	Athletic Bilbao	3-1	Espanyol
Saturday, Nov. 22	Atletico Madrid	3-1	Malaga
Saturday, Nov. 22	Eibar	0-4	Real Madrid
Saturday, Nov. 22	Barcelona	5-1	Sevilla
Saturday, Nov. 22	Deportivo La Coruna	0-0	Real Sociedad
Saturday, Nov. 23	Rayo Vallecano	1-0	Celta Vigo
Sunday, Nov. 23	Levante	2-1	Valencia
Sunday, Nov. 23	Elche	2-2	Cordoba
Sunday, Nov. 23	Villarreal	2-1	Getafe
Monday, Nov. 24	Granada	0-0	Almeria

The current La Liga standings:

Position	Team	PL	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Real Madrid	12	10	0	2	46	11	35	30
2	Barcelona	12	9	1	2	30	6	24	28
3	Atletico Madrid	12	8	2	2	23	12	11	26
4	Valencia	12	7	3	2	24	11	13	24
5	Sevilla	12	7	2	3	19	16	3	23
6	Malaga	12	6	3	3	15	12	3	21
7	Celta Vigo	12	5	5	2	17	12	5	20
8	Villarreal	12	5	3	4	17	14	3	18
9	Athletic Bilbao	12	4	3	5	10	13	-3	15
10	Getafe	12	4	2	6	9	16	-7	14
11	Rayo Vallecano	12	4	2	6	15	24	-9	14
12	Eibar	12	3	4	5	13	19	-6	13
13	Levante	12	3	3	6	9	26	-17	12
14	Espanyol	12	2	5	5	12	16	-4	11
15	Granada	12	2	5	5	6	17	-11	11
16	Real Sociedad	12	2	4	6	12	16	-4	10
17	Almeria	12	2	4	6	9	14	-5	10
18	Deportivo La Coruna	12	2	4	6	12	21	-9	10
19	Elche	12	2	4	6	12	24	-12	10
20	Cordoba	12	0	7	5	10	20	-10	7

La Liga top scorers:

Position	Player	Team	Goals
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	20
2	Neymar	Barcelona	11
3	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	10
4	Carlos Bacca	Sevilla	7
5	Joaquin Larrivey	Celta Vigo	7
6	Karim Benzema	Real Madrid	7
7	Leo Bapistao	Rayo Vallecano	6
8	Alberto Bueno	Rayo Vallecano	6
9	Artiz Aduriz	Athletic Bilbao	5
10	Christian Stuani	Celta Vigo	5

Monday Update

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

The derby between Granada and Almeria ended with the same score on the board as when it started, as the hosts couldn't find a way through against a valiant defensive effort, playing out a 0-0 draw.

Granada had never beaten Almeria in La Liga action, as shared by OptaJose, and they were determined to change that fact from the opening whistle:

The hosts were far more active with the ball and employed a high press with great success, but despite a bevy of chances, Ruben Martinez stood firm throughout the first half.

With the battle against relegation on the line, the visitors were happy to just defend their goal on hope for a draw, as a single point would suffice to climb out of the final three spots in the standings.

Granada grew desperate for a goal after half-time, and their luck seemed to turn when Ramon Azeez was sent off for his second bookable offence, via TNC LaLiga:

"

OFF!The visitors are down to 10 men after Ramon Azeez picks up his second booking. 16 mins to play @GranadaCdeF_en 0-0 @U_D_Almeria #LaLiga

— TNC LaLiga (@TNC_LaLiga) November 24, 2014"

Almeria introduced Carlos Selfa and put every available man behind the ball, and apart from a handful of chances for Jhon Cordoba, the hosts couldn't find a way through the double defensive wall their rivals had put up.

Jeison Murillo was forced to leave the pitch after a nasty clash of heads, as shared by Granada's official Twitter feed:

Treatment for the unfortunate Murillo took even more momentum out of the match, with Almeria content to just hang back and allow the hosts' attackers to hold possession 40 yards away from the box.

Ruben Rochina also suffered an injury, and with all substitutions gone, the hosts were now relegated to just 10 players. This made Almeria's job a lot easier, and the visitors comfortably saw out the match, earning a hard-fought point in the process.

Sunday Recap

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

Levante recorded the upset of the week on Sunday, beating Valencia 2-1 to claim bragging rights in the local derby. Victor Casadesus and Jose Luis Morales scored the goal for the hosts, denying Valencia the chance to put more pressure on the leaders in the La Liga title race.

The first half saw few chances and lots of physical battles in the centre of the pitch, as it became clear early this was going to be a typical derby. Despite Levante's status as relegation candidates, they refused to back down from their big brothers and showed a willingness to mix it up in midfield.

Casadesus eventually opened the score off a corner after 58 minutes, but Daniel Parejo restored order with 16 minutes left to play from close range.

Within a minute, the hosts had reclaimed the lead. Morales, who had only just entered the pitch, picked up the ball and made a darting run at the defenders before cutting inside and slotting home. This fan shared footage of the phenomenal strike:

"

https://t.co/gSdE0ZoesN What a goal MORALES. Levante 2- Valencia 1

— Julian (@FCBJulian) November 23, 2014"

The Estadi Ciutat de Valencia exploded, and despite a late rally from the visitors, Levante held onto the lead for a win the fans will talk about for years to come.

Goalkeeper Diego Alvez told Valencia's official website it's pivotal the players move on from this loss as soon as possible:

"

Defeats always hurt a lot -even more so when it is a derby. We need to get over it and pick ourselves up as soon as possible. We had chances, but Levante were more effective with theirs. They scored very quickly after we did, and that hurts your morale. I think we were down after the goal, which made it tough to come back into the game.

"

The win sees Levante climb out of the relegation zone, while Valencia remain fourth in the standings, chasing league-leaders Real Madrid by six points.

Alberto Bueno scored the only goal in Rayo Vallecano's 1-0 win over Celta Vigo, knocking the visitors out of the European spots in the process.

As shared by OptaJose, the forward has enjoyed a great deal of success against the Galicians:

Elche and Cordoba were both anxious for a win, but the two bottom feeders could only muster a 2-2 draw. The hosts had two chances from the penalty spot but only converted once, as Jonathas missed his after six minutes.

He made up for it with a beautiful volley to salvage a point, however, as shared by La Liga Time:

"

GOAL! Great volley Jonathas. Elche 2-2 Cordoba https://t.co/BfW9sgEMqj

— La Liga Time (@laligatime) November 23, 2014"

Fidel Gonzalez and Federico Nicolas Cartabia had given the visitors a two-goal advantage, but David Lomban pulled one back from the spot before Jonathas produced his wonderful piece of skill.

ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan thought it was a fair result which doesn't help anybody:

Villarreal took a two-goal lead in the first half against Getafe and held on for a 2-1 win, keeping pace with the other Europea League hopefuls in the process. Mario Gaspar and Gerard Moreno were on point for the hosts, while  Mehdi Lacen added to his tally for the visitors.

La Liga's Matchday 12 will conclude on Monday, when Granada hosts Almeria.

Saturday Recap

Ronaldo got things started early in Madrid's thumping of Eibar. He helped himself to a pair of goals as Los Blancos romped to an emphatic 4-0 win.

Those strikes gave the Portuguese powerhouse an eye-popping personal tally at this stage of the season, as Squawka Football noted:

But it was also a successful trip for striker Karim Benzema. The classy No. 9 netted Real's third to continue what is currently a fine scoring run.

Opta Jose detailed Benzema's current prolific streak:

Benzema's strike is enough to move the Frenchman up the scoring charts. The win has also cemented Los Merengues' place at the top of the league standings.

Practically overflowing with attacking guile, manager Carlo Ancelotti's team will take some stopping this season. Even Barca could struggle to do it, despite their own reserves of forward quality.

While Messi was netting a hat-trick, Brazilian sensation Neymar Jr. was continuing to grow in stature for the Catalan club. He scored his team's critical second goal, coming just after half-time, to give Barca the lead after a Jordi Alba own goal had canceled out Messi's first strike.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

The win has put Luis Enrique's team just two points adrift of bitter nemesis Real. With Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez up front, Barca still boast the quality to beat anyone.

Earlier in the day, Los Blancos' city rivals and reigning champions Atletico Madrid stayed in touch at the top by beating Malaga 3-1. The result puts Diego Simeone's team just four points shy of Real.

One notable scorer was ex-Real Sociedad forward Antoine Griezmann. The flying Frenchman hasn't quite hit the heights his talent merits since signing for Atletico this summer.

Maybe his third La Liga goal, per WhoScored.com, will be the cue for Griezmann to finally establish himself as a key part of the Atletico attack.

Friday Recap

Alvaro Barrientos/Associated Press

Friday night belonged to Athletic Bilbao as they comfortably saw off mid-table rivals Espanyol, beating their opponents 3-1.

Goals from Aritz Aduriz, Borja Viguera and a beautifully executed strike from Ander Iturraspe sealed the victory for Club Athletic, who climb the table to ninth position.

Bilboa ran the game in the first-half with Espanyol constantly on the back foot and wasteful in possession.

And it was the impressive Aduriz who opened the scoring in the 28th minute after some very poor marking from the visitors.

Paulo Duarte/Associated Press

The ball was lofted into the box from a corner, only for Aduriz to react first and fastest—heading the ball home with composure and ease.

And it was Aduriz who once again was involved as Club Athletic extended their lead on 43 minutes.

The attacker dribbled through Espanyol to play Viguera in, who neatly flicked the ball beyond the goalkeeper to set off rapturous cheers from the stands.

Espanyol tried to get back into the match in the second half but they were by far the second best team on the pitch.

And it was left to the brilliant Iturraspe who curled the ball home from all of 30 yards to make it 3-0 to the home side:

Espanyol managed to grab a late consolation effort after Victor Sanchez nicked a goal in the 84th minute, but the match was over as a contest.

Bilbao's defence was key on the night and they once again showed great resolution—lead by French talent Aymeric Laporte.

The 20-year-old is attracting interest from some of Europe's biggest clubs, with the Premier League big guns lining up for him, per David Wright of the Express.

And Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe thinks Manchester United could solve their obvious defensive issues just by bringing Laporte to Old Trafford:

Sergio Camacho/Getty Images

Laporte and company looked excellent on the night and Bilbao look a much tougher opponent than Espanyol do for the coming weeks ahead.

In Aduriz, they have an experienced and dangerous attacker, and he will continue to score goals throughout the campaign.

Bilbao will feel they can push on from this position and find their way back into the European places. Their season has just caught fire and the teams just above them will be observing their actions closely.