Barcelona appears favored to continue its perfect start in its title defense campaign when it hosts Racing Santander in the first meeting between the two teams in the Spanish Football League since March 2012.
German coach Hansi Flick's team emerged victorious from the first five rounds of the league, the latest being the day before yesterday at the expense of its host Levante 4-2 thanks to a brace by its young star Lamine Yamal, to stand alone at the top with a three-point lead over its runner-up and arch-rival Real Madrid, which faces its host Elche today.
The Catalan team, which also won in the middle of last week against Dutch side Feyenoord 5-1 at the start of its Champions League campaign, has scored 21 goals in five matches in "La Liga", averaging more than four goals per match.
Although Santander achieved a successful start in its return to the top flight for the first time since 2012 by collecting 7 points from five matches, it will be very difficult for it to surprise its Catalan host, which has not lost to its opponent since January 2004 (0-3).
The two teams met last season in the Round of 16 of the Cup competition, and Barcelona achieved its eighth consecutive victory over its opponent (2-0) and the fifteenth in their last 18 encounters, in an undefeated streak.
Barcelona may have achieved a 100% record so far by winning all its five matches, but its defensive fragility was exposed on Sunday after Levante reduced the deficit from 0-3 to 2-3 in the final minutes.
German substitute Karim Adeyemi decided the match for Barcelona in stoppage time with a brilliant individual goal.
Not the best
Flick told reporters, "It wasn't our best game, of course. We started brilliantly, but we suffered a little in the second half. We have to keep working to improve. This is normal; there are things we need to execute better, much better. We will make that clear to the team and then focus on the next match, but I am happy with the result."
For his part, Barcelona defender Eric Garcia told "Movistar" network that the team relaxed a bit in the second half and almost paid the price for it, adding, "It was a difficult match, and we made it more complicated than it should have been."
He continued, "But we must learn from that. If you give any opponent space to catch their breath, they will impose their control over you."
For its part, Real Madrid is a guest on Tuesday of Elche, which has gathered only two points from its first five matches, with the goal of returning with the three points and staying close to its Catalan rival.
Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho's team returned to winning ways, after falling on Real Betis's pitch 0-1, by defeating Italian side Inter 1-0 in the Champions League and then beating Rayo Vallecano 4-1 in the last round with a brace from Frenchman Kylian Mbappe.
Mourinho, who returned for a second coaching stint with the Royal club after the latter exited last season without trophies, considered that "the victory was very important, especially after our defeat in the last Spanish League match."
He continued, "We settled the match in the first half (leading 3-0), and this is not easy, after the work we put in following the Champions League match, not only physically, but mentally as well."
Like Barcelona, Real faces a team that has been deprived of victories against the Royal club for a very long time, specifically since March 1978 when it defeated them 3-1 in the league, before failing thereafter to achieve a win for 19 consecutive matches between the league and the cup.
However, Real must not repeat the scenario of its last visit to its opponent's stadium when it settled for a 2-2 draw last season, after being on the verge of defeat before Englishman Jude Bellingham rescued them with a last-gasp goal.
Alaves hopes to continue its wonderful start that saw it gather 10 points from the first five matches to occupy third place on goal difference ahead of Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, when it hosts wounded Valencia, which has settled for just one point so far, prompting it on Sunday to terminate the contract of its coach Carlos Corberan, who had been in his post since December 2024, and its British executive director Ron Gourlay.
Reserve team coach Oscar Sanchez will take over temporarily until a new coach is appointed.
