Hansi Flick’s Barcelona returned to the top of the La Liga table on Saturday thanks to a resounding 4-0 thrashing of Athletic Bilbao back at the Catalans’ spiritual home.
Barca’s return to the Camp Nou, now the Spotify Camp Nou, after an exile of 900 days, went better than their fans could have hoped as they wiped away another of the Primera Division’s most dangerous sides. With Real Madrid due to play Elche on Sunday night the Blaugrana may be toppled from their perch but, for now, they can celebrate and the win was all the more precious because it was their homecoming.
Some players were returning to the scene of past exploits, while some were playing at the Camp Nou in the Blue and Red for the first time. And, to be fair, they were not at their fluent best throughout the 90 minutes, just clinical at the key moments. It took just four minutes for the expectant home crowd to see the opener, and it was that man Robert Lewandowski scoring after Eric Garcia had pressed the Bilbao defence into a hasty error. Ferran Torres scored a goal in each half thanks to two assists from Lamine Yamal and Fermin Lopez scored the fourth, as Bilbao finished with ten men; it was already 3-0 when Athletic Club striker Oihan Sancet saw red. Garcia was impressive throughout, pressing again for Lopez’ goal and he dominated the midfield with his tough tackling and superb reading of the ball.
Yamal has delivered more than his fair share of La Liga 2025 highlights and he was at it again, with a mazy run leaving the Bilbao defence in his wake as he teed up Torres’ second and Barca’s fourth.
There were welcome returns for winger Raphinha, and for keeper Joan Garcia who was between the sticks for the first time since September, and the Blaugrana picked up their first clean sheet in that time too. Both will be primed and ready for Barcelona’s Champions League trip to Chelsea on Tuesday night.
Villarreal’s record breakers
While the El Clasico pair have had the odd stutter in the opening weeks Atletico Madrid have been making a run at the top four, and the SBOTOP La Liga 2025 betting odds have installed Los Rojiblancos as the most likely team to unsettle the Real/Barca dominance. But, for the moment, Villarreal are the team that has cemented its place in third, on as good a run as Atleti, making it four wins from four thanks to a 2-1 victory over Real Mallorca at the Estadio de la Ceramica.
This current crop of players at the Yellow Submarine have put together Villarreal’s best ever start to a top flight campaign, with 29 points from 13 games; nine wins, two draws and two defeats. This tally broke a club record of 28 points from the first 13 games set in the 2007/08 campaign.
In a breathless opening it was 1-1 within eight minutes. Gerard Moreno scored for the fourth game in a row on six minutes, and two later Mallorca equalised through Samu who arrowed a superb shot low into the far corner of the net.
Villarreal took control of possession but they had to be patient, trying 15 shots at the Mallorca goal and seven on target. Midfielder Alberto Moleiro thought he had scored but his effort was ruled out for offside and winger Nicholas Pepe fired a cross shot inches wide. Mallorca managed to break up play and interrupt Villarreal’s flow but, when it looked like the Yellow Submarine was about to drop points for the first time in four outings, Tani Oluwaseyi sent the home fans wild when he took a pass from Tajon Buchanan and then cheekily back-heeled it into the net.
It was a goal worthy of three points and record breaking Villarreal match on…but they have another tough examination next week when they go for a fantastic five.
Sociedad are back in the top half
It’s taken a while, but Real Sociedad have clambered their way into the top half of the La Liga table after putting together a run of three wins and two draws from their last five games. Now up to 16 points La Real are within reaching distance of the European places and they have a mouth-watering clash next week, back in San Sebastian at home to Villarreal.
That will be a good test of the rejuvenated Sociedad who came back from a half time deficit to beat Osasuna 3-1 in Pamplona on Saturday, after Alejandro Catena had headed the hosts into a half time lead. Brais Mendez slotted home on 53 when he was put in by Carlos Soler and then, on a fast and incisive break, Mikel Oyarzabal fed Goncalo Guedes who fired low into the corner. But the goal of the match was still to come when Ander Barrenetxea made the points safe with a stunning strike from all of 35 yards.
It’s good to see Sociedad back in the mix again.
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