La Liga is back on Friday with Barcelona unbeaten and five clear
Seven games, seven wins, 21 points. Barcelona return at home to Getafe on Saturday, and Atlético travel to Alavés with the gap already at five points.
Spanish club football returns this week after the international break, and it restarts with Barcelona holding the kind of record that makes the rest of the league nervous: seven matches, seven wins, 21 points and 31 goals scored.
Atlético Madrid and Real Betis sit five points back on 16. Real Madrid are fourth on 15 after two defeats, which by their own standards is a poor start to a season. Nobody outside the top four is within eight points of the lead yet.
The matchday opens on Friday 9 October with Málaga against Espanyol. Saturday brings the pick of it: Rayo Vallecano host Athletic Club, Alavés take on Atlético Madrid, and Barcelona welcome Getafe — a side that has made a habit of turning matches into a physical contest rather than a football one. Real Madrid face Villarreal the same evening.
Three weeks without a club match has a habit of undoing a run like Barcelona's. Players come back from international duty tired, and some come back injured. The table will not look very different by Sunday night, but the first signs of whether this start is real should be visible.
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