The sixth round of games in La Liga saw Barcelona continue their excellent start to the season, while late goals gave Real Madrid a win that was tougher than the score suggested. Here are some things we learned this weekend in Spain.

1. Barcelona take massive win in Villarreal

Barcelona suffered their first defeat of the season in the UEFA Champions League in midweek and with a long injury list, there was a lot of interest in how they would adapt in a tricky visit to Villarreal, who went into the weekend fourth in the classification.

There looked to be a real chance that Barca's short squad could suffer in Sunday's match, but nothing was further from the truth as Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha both scored twice in a 5-1 win, with Lamine Yamal again impressing.

With Gavi and Frenkie de Jong back soon after injury, Barca's resilience is great news for coach Hansi Flick, though the loss of goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen with a serious knee injury is an important setback.

2. Vinicius impresses for Real Madrid

Vinicius Jr hasn't had the best start of the season, but the Brazilian was back to his best on Saturday as Real Madrid came from behind to beat Espanyol 4-1 in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

With Vinicius on the bench as Carlo Ancelotti rotated his squad, Real Madrid again started slowly and fell behind to the newly promoted side in the 54th minute, but after Dani Carvajal equalized just four minutes later, Vinicius inspired Madrid to victory, with a pinpoint cross with the outside of his foot for Rodrygo to put them ahead.

Vinicius then secured the win after winning the ball in midfield and running into the area to score with a low shot, before Kylian Mbappe added a last-minute goal from the penalty spot.

3. Girona could struggle with European commitments

There has been a question mark over how Girona would cope with their first season in Europe and the extra burden on their squad, and the early signs aren't good.

Although Michel Sanchez's side were unlucky to lose to a late goal away to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, they gave a poor display as they went down 2-0 against Valencia on Saturday.

Michel will be unhappy with their performance against the side that kicked off the weekend bottom of the table, and he will be even angrier at the way they conceded both goals, with defenders giving the ball away as they tried to play from the back.

It's still early days, but it could be a sign that the Champions League is more than an economic blessing for the small club, it is a footballing problem.

4. Great week for Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao have had a great week, with wins away to Las Palmas and Leganes, followed by Sunday's 3-1 victory at home to Celta Vigo to lift them up to third in the table.

The Basque side had little recovery time after Thursday's visit to Leganes and were made to work hard by an impressive and attack-minded Celta, but even without the injured Nico Williams, they showed that after a slow start to the season, they are reaching the fitness that allows them to win the ball in their rivals' half of the pitch, where players such as Gorka Guruzeta, Inaki Williams and Oihan Sancet can be lethal.

Coach Ernesto Valverde will be happy that a week that has needed him to rotate his starting 11, has ended up with three wins and nine points.

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)