Barcelona continued their flawless start to the Spanish La Liga season by returning from the Estadio de La Cartuja with a resounding 5-2 victory over Real Betis in the ninth round of the competition, in a match filled with excitement despite the wide margin at the final whistle.
Lamine Yamal opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a sensational long-range strike from outside the penalty area, before Valentín Gómez leveled for Betis in the 27th minute. Just before halftime, Rodri restored the Catalan side’s lead with his first-ever goal in a Barcelona shirt, meeting Fermín López’s cross with a header into the back of the net.
Gabriel Jesus extended Barcelona’s advantage in the 51st minute, capitalizing on an assist from Yamal, though Abde Ezzalzouli responded quickly with Betis’s second goal. The hosts’ attempted comeback was cut short when Facundo Bernal was sent off in the 54th minute, allowing the visitors to exploit their numerical advantage as Eric García and Dani Olmo added the decisive goals.
The victory was worth more than just three points for Hansi Flick’s side, as Barcelona became only the second team in La Liga history to win their opening nine matches of a season, equaling the milestone set by Real Madrid in the 1968–1969 campaign under Miguel Muñoz. Barcelona had previously won their opening eight matches just once before, during the 2013–2014 season under Gerardo Martino, before that run ended with a draw against Osasuna in the ninth round.
Historically, Real Madrid secured their ninth win back then against Barcelona with a 2-1 scoreline, before their streak came to a halt with a goalless draw against Pontevedra in the tenth round. Ironically, Barcelona will now have the chance to break the record outright when they host Real Madrid in the upcoming El Clásico, meaning Los Blancos themselves stand as the final obstacle keeping the Catalans from achieving the first ten-match winning start in La Liga history.
As for Yamal, he turned the match into another chapter of his extraordinary season, raising his total across all competitions to nine goals and ten assists—a combined tally of 19 goal involvements. The Spanish star became the first player across Europe’s top five leagues to reach ten assists this season, while leading all players in those divisions for total goal contributions.
The 19-year-old reached eight La Liga goals in Barcelona’s opening nine matches, representing the best tally by a Spanish player at this stage since Diego Costa with Atlético Madrid in the 2013–2014 campaign. In the 21st century, the only player to surpass him at this milestone is David Villa, who scored ten goals for Valencia in the 2008–2009 season. Furthermore, his goal against Betis marked his tenth from outside the box in La Liga since the 2023–2024 season, placing him behind Kylian Mbappé (11) and ahead of Federico Valverde (9).
Rodri’s goal also carried special significance, as it was his first in the league for Barcelona and made him the 11th different player to score for the Catalan club in the competition this season. No team in Europe’s top five leagues boasts a higher number of different goalscorers, with Barcelona sharing this distinction with Sevilla—highlighting the variety of attacking solutions and the team’s ability not to rely on a single player despite Yamal’s staggering numbers.
Barcelona extended their maximum points tally to 27 from nine matches, maintaining a five-point lead at the summit over Atlético Madrid, while Betis remained on 19 points in third place. Real Madrid sit fourth with 18 points from eight games ahead of their fixture against Sevilla. Following a trip to face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on October 20, Barcelona will host arch-rivals Real Madrid at Camp Nou on October 25 in an El Clásico that could seal a historic record standing since the 1960s.
