Real Madrid Trash Levante to Extend La Liga Lead

Real Madrid maintained their perfect start to the La Liga season with a sixth consecutive victory, sweeping aside Levante 4-1 thanks to Brazilian star Vinícius Júnior and Frenchman Kylian Mbappé.

Vinícius opened the scoring in the 28th minute before setting up Argentine youngster Franco Mastantuono (38), who netted his first goal for Los Blancos since joining from River Plate in the summer. Mbappé then struck twice in quick succession (63’, penalty; 66’) to take his tally to seven goals this season and cement his place at the top of the scoring charts.

The win gave Real Madrid 18 points from six games and temporarily stretched their lead at the top to five points over defending champions Barcelona, who visit Real Oviedo on Thursday to close out the round.

Athletic Bilbao’s stuttering form continued as last season’s fourth-placed side were held 1-1 at home by Girona.

After opening the campaign with three straight wins, the Basques slipped to three defeats—including a 0-2 home loss to Arsenal in the Champions League—before settling for just a point on Tuesday.

Moroccan midfielder Azzedine Ounahi gave Girona the lead in the ninth minute, finishing off a Bryan Gil pass to mark his first goal for the club since arriving from Marseille. 

Bilbao equalized shortly after the start of the second half through Mikel Jauregizar (48’), but despite late pressure, they were forced to settle for their first draw of the season.

Espanyol narrowly avoided back-to-back defeats, salvaging a 2-2 home draw against Valencia with a stoppage-time equalizer from Javi Puado (90+6’).

Valencia had taken the lead through Arnaut Danjuma (15’), before Leandro Cabrera leveled for Espanyol (59’). Hugo Duro restored the visitors’ advantage just three minutes later, but Puado’s dramatic late header ensured Espanyol climbed to fourth with 11 points, while Valencia remain on eight.

Villarreal capitalized on the slip-ups of their rivals, climbing into third place with a 2-1 away win over Sevilla. Canadian forward Tani Oluwaseyi opened the scoring (17’), and after Djibril Sow equalized for Sevilla (51’), Manor Solomon struck late (86’) to seal the points.

The result moved Villarreal up to 13 points, while Sevilla remain 10th on seven.