Real Madrid hit four past Real Mallorca on Sunday to maintain their 100 per cent start to the season, while Barcelona kept up the pressure on their rivals by scoring four goals of their own at Cadiz.
Meanwhile, Real Betis beat Villareal in the best of the rest in LaLiga this weekend as the Yellow Submarine finally conceded their first goal of the season.
There was also double Valverde brilliance, frustration for Gattuso, and that regular reminder that football is not more important than life and death, as Sportsmail‘s Pete Jenson analyses 10 things we learned from LaLiga this weekend.
1. The referee’s a lifesaver
Carlos del Cerro Grande was the man in the middle during Barcelona’s win over Cadiz and it was his decision to stop the game with nine minutes left because he had become aware that a spectator needed urgent medical care.
Play could have continued while medical staff dealt with the incident but with the game stopped everyone’s attention focused on the heart attack victim and from that moment there were many heroes. One medic, Cadiz fan Cristian Cornejo, was close to the incident and came to the stricken spectator’s aid.
There was a cardiologist ‘Carlos’ in the main stand and he made his way across the pitch to help. Barça medical staff got the life-saving defibrillator on to the pitch and Cadiz goalkeeper Ledesma carried it, sprinting, to the patient.
Referee Carlos del Cerro Grande made a crucial decision to stop the game so that a fan could receive medical attention
When the fan was resuscitated it was Cadiz sub Jose Mari who helped medics carry a stretcher to the patient who having been revived was taken to hospital.
Those involved say preparations for such moments can still be improved with a defibrillator in each stand but with the patient understood to be progressing satisfactorily, a life was saved on Saturday.
2. Xavi was lucky Frenkie de Jong stayed
No one doubts the quality of Bernardo Silva but the net gain would have been debatable had he arrived and De Jong left.
In midweek in the Champions League De Jong was outstanding in the absence of Sergio Busquets, playing a defensive midfield role Silva would not have suited, and on Saturday he was outstanding further forward as Barcelona beat Betis.
Midfielder Frenkie de Jong has shone in his last two matches, proving his worth to Barcelona
3. Lewandowski doesn’t need long
He was rested in readiness for the Bayern Munich test that awaits him on Tuesday night.
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