La Liga matchday 5: Barcelona make it five from five, Betis win late at Villarreal

Five rounds, five wins, twenty-one goals scored and four conceded: Barcelona are doing to La Liga what the numbers say they are, and a 4–2 win at Levante on Sunday kept them three points clear of Real Madrid, who put four past Rayo Vallecano the night before. Behind them the round belonged to the away sides: Real Betis won at Villarreal on Monday to move level on points with Madrid, Atlético Madrid scored three times in the last six minutes at Anoeta, and Espanyol won at Osasuna without conceding. Ten matches, 29 goals, one red card.

The results

Levante 2–4 Barcelona was decided by the 48th minute. Xavi Espart scored in the fifth from Raphinha's pass, Lamine Yamal added the second on 19, also from Raphinha, and Yamal scored a penalty three minutes into the second half for 3–0. Iván Romero and Roger Brugué pulled it back to 3–2 by the 88th minute before Karim Adeyemi, set up by Marc Bernal, settled it in stoppage time. Barcelona had 75 per cent of the ball; Levante had more shots on target, seven to six.

Real Madrid 4–1 Rayo Vallecano was three up at half-time: Kylian Mbappé from the penalty spot on 14 minutes, Álvaro Fernández Carreras from Mbappé's pass on 17, and Jude Bellingham from Vinícius on 35. Sergio Camello scored for Rayo six minutes after the restart — his sixth of the season — and Mbappé, from Arda Güler's pass, closed it in stoppage time. Madrid had 24 shots and eleven on target.

Real Sociedad 0–3 Atlético Madrid was goalless for 83 minutes. Then Alejandro Grimaldo scored a penalty, Jonathan David scored from Grimaldo's pass in the 90th, and Giuliano Simeone Baldini, from Dávid Hancko, added a third in the fifth added minute. Real Sociedad had nine corners and three shots on target and nothing to show for either.

Villarreal 1–2 Real Betis on Monday turned inside fourteen first-half minutes. Gerard Moreno put Villarreal ahead on 29 from Renato Veiga's pass; Cucho Hernández equalised on 39 and Natan Bernardo de Souza scored the winner on 43. Betis had 26 shots, twelve on target, to Villarreal's fourteen and eight. Villarreal are still without a win.

Sevilla 1–0 Valencia opened the round on Friday and had one goal in it, Juan Antonio Iglesias Sánchez in the 81st minute from Giorgi Kochorashvili's pass. Valencia managed three shots and none on target; they have one point from five and one goal scored.

Racing Santander 2–1 Alavés went against the run of shots. Ville Koski put Alavés ahead on 18; Yassir Zabiri equalised on 38 from Iñigo Vicente's pass and scored the winner on 53, set up by Jorge Salinas Viadero. Alavés had sixteen shots and eight on target to Racing's eleven and four; André Almeida was sent off for Racing in the 89th minute, and they held on.

Osasuna 0–2 Espanyol was over early: Roberto Fernández Jaén scored in the third minute from Marcos Fernández's pass and again on 17 from Omar El Hilali's. Osasuna had 61 per cent of the ball and did not score with it.

Athletic Club 1–1 Elche saw Facundo Buonanotte's penalty five minutes into the second half cancelled out by Iñaki Williams on 79, from Alex Berenguer's pass. Athletic had nineteen shots to Elche's three.

Celta Vigo 1–1 Málaga and Getafe 1–1 Deportivo La Coruña were the other draws. Ferran Jutglà put Celta ahead on 41 from Hugo González's pass and Adrian Nino equalised on 83; at Getafe, Ramón Terrats scored on 66 from Iván Azón's pass and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, from Yeremay Hernández, levelled on 78 — his fifth of the season. Deportivo are unbeaten after five.

The table after the round

Counting Monday's result at Villarreal, which the official table had not yet done when this was written. Real Sociedad and Celta have played six: their round-six match was brought forward to 3 September.

#	Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Barcelona	5	5	0	0	+17	15
2	Real Madrid	5	4	0	1	+10	12
3	Real Betis	5	4	0	1	+1	12
4	Alavés	5	3	1	1	+6	10
5	Atlético Madrid	5	3	1	1	+4	10
6	Sevilla	5	3	1	1	+2	10
7	Deportivo La Coruña	5	2	3	0	+3	9
8	Espanyol	5	2	1	2	+3	7
9	Athletic Club	5	2	1	2	+1	7
10	Racing Santander	5	2	1	2	0	7
11	Osasuna	5	2	1	2	−3	7
12	Real Sociedad	6	2	1	3	−5	7
13	Levante	5	1	2	2	−2	5
14	Getafe	5	1	2	2	−3	5
15	Celta Vigo	6	0	4	2	−3	4
16	Rayo Vallecano	5	1	1	3	−6	4
17	Málaga	5	0	3	2	−6	3
18	Villarreal	5	0	2	3	−3	2
19	Elche	5	0	2	3	−7	2
20	Valencia	5	0	1	4	−9	1

Numbers to know

• Four players share the top of the scoring chart on six: Sergio Camello, Raphinha, Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal. Mbappé and Yamal both scored twice this round; Raphinha set up two.
• Barcelona have scored 21 in five matches. Nobody else has reached fifteen.
• Five clubs are still without a win — Celta, Málaga, Villarreal, Elche and Valencia — and Valencia have scored once all season.

Next up

Matchday 6 is a midweek round. Tuesday brings Rayo Vallecano v Espanyol, Alavés v Valencia and Elche v Real Madrid; on Wednesday Atlético Madrid host Osasuna, Deportivo La Coruña meet Sevilla, Barcelona play Racing Santander and Levante face Athletic Club; Thursday closes it with Real Betis v Getafe and Málaga v Villarreal. Real Sociedad's match with Celta was played on 3 September. Kick-off times in your time zone are on the La Liga page.