La Liga matchday 9: Barcelona win 5–2 at Betis for nine from nine, Baena wins it late for Atlético

Barcelona won 5–2 at Real Betis on Saturday and have won all nine league matches; they are five points clear. Atlético Madrid stay second after Álex Baena's goal on 89 won it at Espanyol, and Real Madrid beat Sevilla 4–1 to go third, six points behind Barcelona with the Clásico next. Real Sociedad also scored five, at Málaga, who are still without a win. Ten matches were played, with 29 goals and two red cards; four were drawn, two of them goalless.

Friday and Saturday

Deportivo La Coruña 1–1 Levante was goalless until the last half-hour. Bil Nsongo put Deportivo La Coruña ahead on 63, and Daniel Requena equalised for Levante on 82 from Petar Ratkov's pass. Deportivo had 13 shots, five on target, to Levante's eleven.

Espanyol 0–1 Atlético Madrid was settled a minute from time: Baena scored on 89 from Julián Alvarez's pass, both of them on as substitutes. Atlético had 70 per cent of the ball, 19 shots and twelve corners; Espanyol put two of ten shots on target. It is Atlético's fifth straight league win. Baena told DAZN the team "keeps believing until the 90th minute", AFP reports, and Javi Puado, on for Espanyol on 82, made his first appearance since January after a knee injury.

Villarreal 0–0 Elche stayed goalless although Villarreal had 20 shots, seven on target, and ten corners. Elche had one shot on target, and VAR cancelled a penalty on 63.

Real Betis 2–5 Barcelona at La Cartuja had seven goals and a red card. Lamine Yamal scored on 10 from Jules Koundé's pass, and Valentín Gómez equalised on 27 from Pablo Fornals. Rodri put Barcelona back ahead on 41 from Fermín López, and Gabriel Jesus made it 3–1 on 51 from Lamine Yamal. Abdessamad Ezzalzouli, from Giovani Lo Celso, pulled one back on 53, but Facundo Bernal was sent off for violent conduct on 54, a minute after his yellow card. Eric García, on at half-time, scored on 62 and Dani Olmo on 81, both from Pau Cubarsí's passes. Barcelona had 69 per cent of the ball and ten shots on target. FC Barcelona says nine wins from nine equals the best start in the league, Real Madrid's in 1968/69, and that the header was Rodri's first goal for the club. The club also reports a thigh injury for Eric García, expected to keep him out for three to four weeks, and an ankle sprain for Koundé.

Valencia 0–0 Athletic Club: Valencia had 16 shots, three on target; Athletic Club had 63 per cent of the ball and two on target.

Sunday

Osasuna 2–0 Racing Santander opened with an Ante Budimir penalty on 9, and Asier Osambela, on as a substitute, made it two on 88. Osasuna had 20 shots, seven on target; Racing Santander had one on target.

Celta Vigo 2–1 Alavés turned in the second half. Ferrán Jutglà scored for Celta Vigo on 53 from Javi Rodríguez's pass, and Rodríguez scored himself on 71 from Iago Aspas. Hugo Novoa, from Mariano Díaz, pulled one back for Alavés on 87. Alavés had 20 shots to Celta's six and nine on target, and Celta's goalkeeper made eight saves.

Málaga 2–5 Real Sociedad was 2–0 to Real Sociedad by half-time. Takefusa Kubo scored on 3 from Héctor Fort's pass and Orri Óskarsson on 26. Adrián Niño, from Pablo Martínez, pulled one back on 54; Mikel Oyarzabal, from Kubo, made it 3–1 on 59. Martínez scored on 66 and Oyarzabal again a minute later, on 67, from Jon Martin, and Gonçalo Guedes, on as a substitute, scored the fifth on 73. Real Sociedad had 21 shots, nine on target.

Real Madrid 4–1 Sevilla was 2–0 at half-time. Arda Güler scored on 30 from Yan Diomande's pass and Kylian Mbappé on 37 from Jude Bellingham. Mbappé scored a penalty on 63, Manu Bueno pulled one back on 80 from Lucas Stassin, and Diomande, from Aurélien Tchouaméni, made it 4–1 on 82. Real Madrid had 65 per cent of the ball and eight shots on target. Vinícius Júnior missed the match, the first of a four-match ban for his red card against Villarreal that also rules him out of the Clásico, AFP reported.

Monday

Getafe 1–1 Rayo Vallecano was played mostly ten against eleven. Álvaro García put Rayo Vallecano ahead on 11 from Jorge de Frutos's pass, and Djené Dakonam, booked on 16, was sent off on 28. Martin Satriano equalised for Getafe on 56 from Francho Serrano. Rayo had 68 per cent of the ball and 21 shots, five on target.

The table after matchday 9

#	Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Barcelona	9	9	0	0	+30	27
2	Atlético Madrid	9	7	1	1	+11	22
3	Real Madrid	9	7	0	2	+14	21
4	Real Betis	9	6	1	2	+2	19
5	Real Sociedad	9	5	1	3	0	16
6	Sevilla	9	4	2	3	−2	14
7	Alavés	9	3	2	4	+3	11
8	Celta Vigo	9	2	5	2	+3	11
9	Deportivo La Coruña	9	2	5	2	+1	11
10	Osasuna	9	3	2	4	−8	11
11	Athletic Club	7	2	3	2	+1	9
12	Villarreal	9	2	3	4	0	9
13	Rayo Vallecano	8	2	3	3	−5	9
14	Getafe	9	2	3	4	−6	9
15	Espanyol	9	2	2	5	−1	8
16	Racing Santander	9	2	2	5	−12	8
17	Levante	8	1	4	3	−4	7
18	Elche	9	1	4	4	−6	7
19	Valencia	9	1	3	5	−9	6
20	Málaga	9	0	4	5	−12	4

Barcelona lead by five points from Atlético and by six from Real Madrid, who moved above Betis into third. The points race shows Barcelona taking three points from every matchday, with Atlético and Real Madrid both winning their last two and Betis dropping points for the first time since matchday 7. Athletic Club have played seven, Rayo and Levante eight. At the bottom, Málaga are the only side without a win, two points behind Valencia.

Numbers to know

• Barcelona have scored 39 and conceded nine in nine matches.
• Raphinha leads the scorers with twelve; Mbappé, with two on Sunday, has nine and Lamine Yamal eight, with six assists.
• Two matches finished with five goals for the away side: Betis 2–5 Barcelona and Málaga 2–5 Real Sociedad.
• Two red cards, Djené's on 28 and Bernal's on 54; both teams that had a man sent off failed to win.
• Getafe have scored five goals in nine matches, the fewest in the league; Málaga and Valencia have six.

Next up

Levante v Athletic Club, from matchday 6, is on Wednesday 21 October at 18:00 UTC; Rayo Vallecano v Athletic Club, abandoned on matchday 8, has no new date yet. Matchday 10 opens on Friday 23 October with Alavés v Málaga at 19:00 UTC. On Saturday 24 October, Atlético Madrid host Deportivo La Coruña at 19:00 UTC. On Sunday 25 October, Barcelona play Real Madrid at 20:00 UTC, after Celta Vigo v Real Betis at 15:15 and Real Sociedad v Levante at 17:30, and Sevilla v Osasuna closes the round on Monday 26 October at 20:00 UTC. The full round is on the La Liga page.

Sources for the context: FC Barcelona, FC Barcelona, FC Barcelona, AFP via Yahoo Sports, AFP via Arab News.