Barcelona open up early daylight at the top of La Liga
Barcelona sit three points clear at the top of La Liga after five rounds of matches, an early marker in a title race that still has the vast majority of the season to run.
A gap of three points this early cannot settle anything, but it does hand Barcelona a psychological cushion as they look to build momentum through the coming weeks.
Rivals still to respond
Real Madrid remain among the sides expected to push hardest for the title, and their response over the next set of fixtures will say plenty about how seriously the early gap needs to be taken.
With so much of the campaign still ahead, few points separate the contenders in real terms, but Barcelona will want to use their current position to keep the pressure on those chasing them.