Ten minutes were on the clock at the Estadio Olimpico de la Cartuja when Lamine Yamal settled the question of who was going to win this one. His finish was the sort that makes a Saturday evening worth staying in for, and by the time Dani Olmo rolled in the fifth with nine minutes left, Real Betis had been taken apart in their own stadium. Barcelona won 5-2, and they have now won every league game they have played this season.
Five different scorers, and not one of them laboured
After Yamal opened it, Rodri made it two just before half-time. Betis had got themselves back into the game through Valentin Gomez on 27 minutes, which gave the home support something to hold on to at the break, but whatever plan they carried back out with them lasted six minutes. Gabriel Jesus scored on 51, Abde Ezzalzouli pulled one back on 53, and then the roof fell in: Facundo Bernal was sent off on 54, Eric Garcia headed Barcelona further clear on 62, and Olmo finished the job on 81.
Losing a man a minute after scoring is about as cruel as a sequence gets. Betis were chasing a two-goal deficit with ten players and more than half an hour to play, against a side that has scored 39 goals in nine league games. There was only ever going to be one outcome from there.
Nine from nine, and a start that bears comparing
Barcelona sit top with 27 points from nine matches. Nine wins, no draws, no defeats, 39 scored and nine conceded. Sky Sports billed the result as equalling a record league start, and the raw numbers explain why: Atletico Madrid are second on 22 and already five back, with Real Madrid a game in hand but ten points adrift in fourth.
What stands out is not simply that they keep winning but how little trouble they appear to have doing it. Five scorers in one away match, a goal every 21 minutes across the campaign so far, and a defence that has conceded nine in nine while playing a long way up the pitch. Betis were third in the table going into this and are still third afterwards; this was not a soft fixture on paper.
Where it leaves Betis
Manuel Pellegrini's side have 19 points from nine, six wins and a draw against two defeats, with a goal difference of plus two that now looks a little thin next to the sides above them. They were beaten here by a better team having a very good night, and the red card removed any chance of salvaging something. The more useful reading is that Betis have taken 19 points from nine games and are still inside the European places, which is more or less where they would have hoped to be in the third week of October.
For Barcelona, the schedule rolls on and the question is no longer whether they can sustain the form but who, if anyone, can get close enough to test it.
Match facts: Real Betis 2-5 Barcelona, Estadio Olimpico de la Cartuja, Saturday 17 October 2026, 17:30 kick-off. Betis: V Gomez 27, Ezzalzouli 53. Barcelona: Yamal 10, Rodri 41, G Jesus 51, E Garcia 62, Olmo 81. Sent off: Bernal (Betis) 54. La Liga after nine rounds: Barcelona 27 pts (P9 W9 D0 L0, 39-9), Atletico Madrid 22, Real Betis 19.
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