Welcome to The Euro Debrief, the Sky Sports column in which Adam Bate rounds up some of the key stories from the latest matches across the continent. This week: "When you see the first goal he scored, unbelievable," said Hansi Flick of Lamine Yamal. "This is, for me, at the moment, the best player in the world." It was an outrageous opener in his side's 5-2 win away to Real Betis as Barca made it nine wins from nine in LaLiga.
There is certainly nothing outrageous about Flick's claim. The teenager's manipulation of the ball at speed is unparalleled. Betis competed - Giovani Lo Celso unfortunate to have a sensational strike of his own ruled out - but Barca's firepower is something else.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player They have scored 39 goals in their nine games so far, the best scoring start to a season in LaLiga by any team in 86 years and the longest run of victories to begin a campaign in 58 years. They will take some stopping and it is Real Madrid who will be next to try. Having been lucky enough to be there to see the first Clasico of last season, in which Lamine Yamal failed to back up his comments, released pre-match, accusing their great rivals of "stealing and complaining", it will be fascinating to see how this one plays out.
The winger was relatively becalmed that day. One year on, and just one day before the Ballon d'Or ceremony in London, momentum seems to be with him this time. A chance for this 10-out-of-10 player to make it 10 wins out of 10 for this thrilling Barcelona side.
In truth, Real Madrid were just as impressive in their 4-1 win over Sevilla on Sunday. Arda Guler set the tone with an ambitious angled finish in the Bernabeu before Kylian Mbappe danced through for the first of his two goals as he warmed up for El Clasico too. All eyes will be on that showdown but the two great rivals are still separated in the league table by the presence of Atletico Madrid in second spot.
That is because Alex Baena came off the bench to produce a fine finish into the side-netting to beat Espanyol late on. LaLiga results: Deportivo A Coruna 1-1 Levante, Espanyol 0-1 Atletico Madrid, Villarreal 0-0 Elche, Real Betis 2-5 Barcelona, Valencia 0-0 Athletic Club, Osasuna 2-0 Racing Santander, Celta Vigo 2-1 Alaves, Malaga 2-5 Real Sociedad, Real Madrid 4-1 Sevilla. Harry Kane has not given up on grabbing the Ballon d'Or for himself at next week's ceremony and he offered more evidence for his compelling case as Bayern Munich went one better than Barcelona and racked up six goals in their dismantling of RB Leipzig.
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