Barcelona thrash Valencia 5-0 with two from Yamal and open a three-point lead in LaLiga

Barcelona beat Valencia 5-0 at the Mestalla on Sunday for a fourth win in four LaLiga rounds. They are the only side in the Spanish top flight with a perfect record after four rounds, and the result opened a three-point lead at the top.

Lamine Yamal scored twice. The first came as early as the sixth minute, a dinked finish from a tight angle, and the 19-year-old had a third goal ruled out for offside after a VAR check. Fermín López, Raphinha and Pedri completed the scoring.

The gap at the top is not explained by Barcelona alone. On the Friday before, José Mourinho's Real Madrid had lost 1-0 at Betis in Seville, the Portuguese coach's first league defeat in charge of the club. The two arrived at the round level on nine points; Barcelona left it on twelve.

What the result says, and what it does not yet say

Four rounds are too few to settle a thirty-eight-round league, and the calendar itself is a reminder: the September leader is rarely the May one. What the round does establish is more immediate: Flick's side reach the first international break without dropping a point, and their direct rival has already dropped three.

For anyone following from outside Spain, the useful reading is the calendar one. LaLiga returns after the international window, and the clásico between the two is still far off. Until then, the three-point gap is worth less as an advantage than as a margin: it lets Barcelona slip once without losing top spot.