Barcelona ended week four top of La Liga following a 4-1 win over Levante, but Real Madrid are hot on their heels in second position as the league table in Spain's top flight starts to take shape.
Lionel Messi scored twice in Barcelona's home victory on Sunday, but it was less straightforward for Real Madrid, who could only beat Granada 1-0 on Saturday to move onto 10 points for the season.
Malaga's struggles continued in week four's opener on Friday, with Javi Gracia's side still goalless this season after going down 1-0 at Getafe, who themselves had entered the match off the back of three straight defeats.
Real Madrid, as mentioned, beat Granada by the single goal to continue their unbeaten start, but Valencia could only draw 0-0 at home to Real Betis.
Atletico Madrid's strong form continued as they won 2-0 at Eibar in Saturday's penultimate match and there was more misery for David Moyes in the final game as his Real Sociedad team lost 3-2 at home to Espanyol.
Celta Vigo currently sit in the top four after they moved onto 10 points with a 2-1 win at struggling Sevilla in Sunday's early start, before Sporting Gijon won a five-goal thriller away at Deportivo La Coruna.
Villarreal are now third following a 3-1 win at home to Athletic Bilbao, while Rayo Vallecano recorded their first three points of the season with a 1-0 victory at Las Palmas, who are still looking for a first success.
Here, Sports Mole has picked out its star XI from another round of enthralling action in Spain's top flight.
Andres Fernandez (Granada)
Granada might have lost at Real Madrid on Saturday, but a 1-0 defeat at the Bernabeu is no disgrace. There were a number of big names on display, but the star of the show was Fernandez, who had a super game between the sticks. The stopper won his personal battle with Cristiano Ronaldo and made sure that the visitors left the stadium with their pride very much intact.
Hugo Mallo (Celta Vigo)
Celta's forward-thinking players have drawn most of the praise in their impressive start to the season, but Mallo has also been a key contributor. The Spaniard performed his usual defensive role excellently, but the right-back was a real threat in a wide area when he was given the licence to break forward. Sevilla simply could not contain Mallo, especially in the first period.
Marc Bartra (Barcelona)
Bartra is still not considered first choice at Barcelona, but more performances of this ilk will make it difficult for Luis Enrique to leave him out. The centre-back showed the composure of a striker to open the scoring in his team's 4-1 win over Levante on Sunday, while he was also excellent at the other end, making a number of important clearances when Levante had their best spell.
Mario Gaspar (Villarreal)
Villarreal were unable to really push for a top-four position last season, but there are signs that they will go a lot closer in the new campaign. Sunday's 3-1 win over Bilbao moved the Yellow Submarine onto 10 points and continued their unbeaten start. It was Mario that scored his team's second in their victory, while the Spaniard was also calm and composed in a defensive area.
Alberto Lora (Sporting Gijon)
The full-back's willingness to drive forward has been a key feature of Sporting's start to the La Liga season and that was again the case at the weekend. Abelardo Fernandez's team raced into an early 2-0 lead at Deportivo and it was Lora that set up both of Antonio Sanabria's goals. Deportivo just could not live with the Spaniard when he combined with Alen Halilovic in a wide area.
Hernan Perez (Espanyol)
Sociedad have made a poor start to the new season, but Espanyol still needed to produce a good performance to win 3-2 at the Anoeta on Saturday. A topsy-turvy game ultimately saw the visitors claim all the points and it was Perez that scored the winner in the final minute. The midfielder also set up Enzo Roco for his team's second of the match in what was a fine performance.
Daniel Wass (Celta Vigo)
Wass has not taken long to settle into life in Vigo – hitting two goals in his first four league games for Celta. Sevilla would have been confident of bouncing back when they welcomed Eduardo Berizzo's side on Sunday, but they would not have counted on Wass being in such fine form. The 26-year-old scored an excellent second for his side and was class personified throughout the game.
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Messi played in an advanced midfield role on Sunday so he makes this team in that very position. Barcelona were far from their best against Levante, but still managed to record a 4-1 victory. Once again, Messi was the star attraction at Camp Nou – setting up his side's first before scoring twice himself. The only blot on his performance was a missed penalty in the second period.
Angel Correa (Atletico Madrid)
The Argentine international joined Atletico in the summer of 2014, but a heart problem that required surgery kept him on the sidelines for the 2014-15 campaign. Now back with the first team, the 20-year-old has made an excellent early impression. He scored within one minute of coming on against Eibar, before setting up Fernando Torres for Atletico's second late on.
Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid)
The striker was not picked to start Atletico's clash at Eibar on Sunday, but he still managed to pick up the man-of-the-match award with his performance in the second period. Torres replaced Jackson Martinez at the break and he set up Correa for Atletico's first, before showing excellent composure to score their second. The 31-year-old seems to have rediscovered that extra yard of pace.
Antonio Sanabria (Sporting Gijon)
The 19-year-old scored his first Sporting goals on Sunday as the newly-promoted side won 3-2 at Deportivo. The attacker, whose parent club is Roma, struck twice in the opening eight minutes for his loan team and was a real threat throughout the remainder of the contest. Having failed to make the breakthrough at Barcelona, this is the teenager's first taste of La Liga football.
Matt Law
