Barcelona equal best LaLiga start with 5-2 win over 10-man Real Betis

BarcelonaBarcelonaLaLiga · Spain beat 10-man Real Betis 5-2 to record a ninth win from nine LaLigaLaLigaSpain matches this season, a start reported to equal the best any club has made to a Spanish top-flight campaign. Lamine YamalLamine YamalBarcelona · Spain · Forward was involved in the victory, which takes Barcelona into El Clásico with a perfect league record.

2025/26

Season 2025/26

Nine wins from nine

Twenty-seven points from a possible twenty-seven is the plainest way to describe the run. The claim that it draws Barcelona level with the strongest opening sequence in LaLiga's history is reported rather than officially confirmed, and the league has not publicly recognised it as a record.

The significance lies less in any single scoreline than in the absence of dropped points. Barcelona have now won every league fixture they have played this season, and they have done it while scoring freely: the Betis result was their highest tally of the campaign so far.

The Betis win

Junta de Andalucía · CC BY-SA 2.0

The five-goal return came against opposition reduced to ten players, a dismissal that reshaped the contest. Which Betis player was sent off, and at what point in the match, has not been confirmed. Betis scored twice themselves, so the evening was not a clean sheet for the league leaders.

Barcelona's individual goalscorers have not been detailed, and no account of the goals has been issued by either club. What is clear is the margin: three goals separated the sides at the end, the widest winning gap of Barcelona's league season on the evidence available.

Lamine Yamal's part

Junta de Andalucía · CC BY-SA 2.0

Yamal played a part in the win, though the specifics of his contribution — whether goals, assists or neither — have not been set out. His involvement is nonetheless the thread that ties the evening to the fixture that follows, because El Clásico is the stage on which Barcelona's attacking players are measured most sharply.

Whether Yamal starts against Real MadridReal MadridLaLiga · Spain, and whether he is asked to play the full match, is unresolved. Neither club has issued team news, and no indication has been given of how Barcelona intend to handle his workload across the Clásico and whatever follows it.

El Clásico comes next

Real Madrid are the next opponents, and they are the measure of whether this start is a genuine statement or a quirk of the fixture list. A record-equalling run is one thing; protecting it against Barcelona's principal rival is another entirely, and it is the second test that will shape how the opening months are remembered.

The distance between the two sides in the table has not been established, so how much a Clásico win would be worth in the standings remains unclear. What Barcelona have done is ensure they arrive at the fixture without having dropped a point.

What is not yet known

• Whether LaLiga officially recognises the nine-match opening run as a record.
• The identity of the Real Betis player sent off, and the minute of the dismissal.
• Barcelona's goalscorers and who provided the assists.
• Team news for El Clásico, including whether Yamal is expected to start.
• Any comment from Barcelona, Real Betis, Real Madrid or the league on the result.