Barcelona have quickly put an agonising August behind them and taken the early lead of La Liga.
An insatiable Lionel Messi hit a hat-trick as Barcelona hammered Espanyol 5-0 in a local derby on Saturday, making them the only side so far to win their first three games.
Real Madrid fell four points adrift and sit in sixth place after they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Levante.
Atletico Madrid also trail Barca by four points as without the suspended Antoine Griezmann they drew a blank in an intense 0-0 draw at Valencia.
Sevilla moved up to second, just two points behind the leaders, as they warmed up for their Champions League match at Liverpool on Wednesday by easing past Eibar 3-0 with goals from Paulo Henrique Ganso, Wissam Ben Yedder and Nolito.
Barca entered the campaign reeling from the unwanted departure of Neymar to Paris St Germain last month and a stinging loss to Real in the Spanish Super Cup by the aggregate score of 5-1.
But new coach Ernesto Valverde has refocused his players on the league, and Messi has done the rest by scoring five goals to lead the competition.
“We are at the start of the season and the differences are not significant, but it sure is better to be ahead than behind,” Valverde said.
Even better for their long-term prospects than the lopsided win, the player who Barca signed to help fill the hole left by Neymar had a positive debut.
France forward Ousmane Dembele went on as a second-half substitute and set up Luis Suarez to complete the demolition of Espanyol.
The 20-year-old Dembele produced the kind of speed Barcelona wanted from him when he raced down the right flank to reach a long pass and then deliver a precise low cross for Suarez to score.
“I saw Dembele showing attitude, daring to do things,” Valverde said. “We have big expectations for him. It is about helping him come along.” Gerard Pique also scored for Barca, who host Juventus in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Messi led the way with a virtuoso performance, but his 26th-minute opener also needed a huge slice of luck as he was wrongly not flagged offside from Ivan Rakitic’s through ball before blasting into the top corner.
Barca’s second arrived thanks to a counter-attack from an Espanyol corner led by Messi and Luis Suarez before Jordi Alba’s low cross was slotted home at the near post by the Argentine 10 minutes before half-time.
Messi completed his treble midway through the second half by finishing off a sweeping team move, lashing home another pass from Alba from inside the area.
Dembele had to wait until 22 minutes from time for his debut and the 20-year-old showed why Barca have made him the third most expensive player ever as his pinpoint cross was swept home by Suarez to round off the scoring after Pique had headed home Barca’s fourth.
Spanish La Liga table before Sunday’s late match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):
Barcelona 3 3 0 0 9 0 9
Real Sociedad 3 3 0 0 10 4 9
Sevilla 3 2 1 0 5 1 7
Athletic Bilbao 3 2 1 0 3 0 7
Leganes 3 2 0 1 3 2 6
Atletico Madrid 3 1 2 0 7 3 5
Real Madrid 3 1 2 0 6 3 5
Levante 3 1 2 0 4 3 5
Valencia 3 1 2 0 3 2 5
Getafe 3 1 1 1 2 2 4
Girona 3 1 1 1 3 4 4
Celta Vigo 3 1 0 2 4 5 3
Real Betis 2 1 0 1 2 3 3
Eibar 3 1 0 2 1 4 3
Deportivo la Coruna 3 0 1 2 4 9 1
Espanyol 3 0 1 2 1 7 1
Malaga 2 0 0 2 0 2 0
Alaves 3 0 0 3 0 4 0
Villarreal 2 0 0 2 0 4 0
Las Palmas 2 0 0 2 1 6 0
