Chapter 41: Matchday 8
Another week, another La Liga matchday.
It felt like just yesterday since the season started, but it was already Matchday 8 of the Spanish La Liga.
Barcelona’s players arrived at the Ramon Sanches Pizjuan to a wall of white. Sevilla’s fans, as passionate as they came, were armed with drums, flares, and the conviction that the Catalan machine could be stopped.
Barca’s unbeaten record this season was beginning to suffocate the rest of La Liga. Everyone wanted to be the first to bloody Flick’s side.
Across Spain, Real Madrid were preparing in the yellow-hot cauldron of the Estadio de la Ceramica in Villarreal. FC Villarreal, wounded from a poor start, wanted redemption, and what better way to rally their season than against Los Blancos?
This season, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona looked unstoppable.
Two unbeaten juggernauts, two hostile away grounds, one question pulsing across the nation, who would blink first?
[La Liga – Matchday 8:]
>Sevilla vs Barcelona.
FWEEE!
The opening whistle shrieked, and Sevilla immediately came out flying. Their midfield pressed high, their forwards harassed Christensen and Koundé, Christensen who started ahead of Araujo tonight, and the home crowd roared with every turnover.
They turned up the heat at home, aiming to suffocate the table toppers.
By the 12th minute, a misplaced pass from Gavi was snapped up. Sevilla punished as they broke down the right, whipped in a cross, which Garcia Pascual rose highest to plant into the net with a header.
1–0 Sevilla.
BOOM!
The stadium exploded. The fans in white roared at the top of their lungs, celebrating the go-ahead goal.
But if Sevilla thought they’d rattled Barca, thin again. They were wrong.
Sam Moses barely flinched, clapping his teammates forward.
"Keep playing. Keep pressing. Our chance will come."
And it did.
In the 26th minute, Raphinha collected the ball on the wing, shimmed past his marker, and bent in a cross. Sam ghosted between two defenders and volleyed home with a precise kick of the ball.
1–1. Game on.
From there, Barca shifted gears. Yamal began weaving through white shirts, his trickery too much for the full-backs.
Pedri orchestrated from deep, his passing sharp and incisive.
And then in the 39th minute, Yamal drew three defenders before slipping the ball into space. Sam didn’t even take a touch. He simply rifled it first-time into the bottom corner to give Barcelona the lead.
1–2 Barca.
The second half turned into an exhibition. Sevilla chased shadows as Flick’s high line strangled them. Raphinha cut inside and lashed a left-foot rocket from outside the box in the 58th minute to make it 1–3.
Then came the icing late in the game.
In the 74th minute, Sam received the ball, drew traffic and then played a backheel to Pedri, who lobbed the ball over the defense. Yamal darted through, controlling mid-stride and chipping the keeper.
1–4 Barcelona. Game over.
The final whistle left Barca fans celebrating wildly in the away section. Another convincing win. Another statement.
Sam won the man of the match award having contributed with 2 goals and 1 assist, taking his tally for the season to 20 goals and 11 assists in just 13 games.
...
On the other side of Spain...
[La Liga – Matchday 8:]
>Villarreal vs Real Madrid.
In Villarreal, it was a different story. The Estadio de la Ceramica was a furnace, and the Villarreal players on the pitch matched the intensity.
FWEEE!
The game started and following the game plan, Villarreal pressed like madmen. Their pressing rattled Madrid’s backline, and within 20 minutes, a looping header from Alex Baena had the hosts in front.
1-0 Villareal.
Calma, calma.
Xabi Alonso’s men needed calm, and Kylian Mbappé provided it.
In the 33rd minute, the Frenchman picked up the ball near midfield, burned past two defenders with his trademark burst, and slotted it under the keeper.
1–1.
The game raged. Sevilla held nothing back in the first half, throwing everything forward, forcing Courtois into a string of reflex saves. But Madrid, seasoned in suffering, waited for their moment.
It came in the 2nd half, in the 64th minute.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Madrid’s new engine on the right, delivered a wicked cross to the left where Vinícius met it with a thunderous header.
1–2 Madrid.
The stadium was silenced.
After that, Sevilla pushed all-in again, desperate for an equalizer. But in their most desperate moment, Madrid killed the game ruthlessly.
A quick turnover in midfield saw Bellingham release Mbappé. The Frenchman squared for Rodrygo, who tapped in at the 88th minute to make it 1–3 in Madrid favor.
Madrid didn’t just survive. They thrived.
Kylian Mbappe won the man of the match award.
...
This was how the top of the La Liga table looked like after Matchday 8.
[Spanish La Liga Table:]
Rank/ Club/ Played/ Wins/ Draws/ Losses/ Goals For/ Goals Against/ Points
1. FC Barcelona 8/ 8/ 0/ 0/ 26/ 5/ 24
2. Real Madrid 8/ 8/ 0/ 0/ 22/ 7/ 24
3. Atletico Madrid 7/ 5/ 1/ 1/ 15/ 6/ 16
4. Real Betis 8/ 4/ 2/ 2/ 12/ 9/ 14
Barcelona still led the pack, and Real Madrid was right on their heels.
Two giants, two perfect records, neither giving an inch. The rest of Spain could only watch as Barca and Madrid turned the title race into a private duel.
And of course, a media firestorm followed after the matchday’s end.
*AS (Madrid): ["Madrid Show Maturity in Seville — Mbappé the Decisive Factor."]
*Sport (Barcelona): ["Moses and Yamal Dismantle Villarreal — Flick’s Machine Unstoppable."]
Talk shows debated endlessly. Could Barca’s relentless pressing outlast a 60-game season? Could Madrid’s star-studded attack continue to dig them out of trouble? The specter of El Clásico, now only weeks away, loomed like a thundercloud.
...
Inside Barca’s Camp...
On the flight back to Catalonia, Yamal leaned across to Sam.
"They’re winning everything too."
Sam smirked.
"Good. Let’s make El Clásico worth it. That’s when we’ll truly know the club that is on top this season".
Raphinha chimed in, voice teasing:
"Just don’t try to score five again before then, eh?"
The team laughed. But beneath it, the focus sharpened. Every game mattered. Every point was gold dust.
...
Inside Madrid’s Camp...
In the dressing room at Villarreal, Alonso’s voice rang out.
"We’ve survived the fire here. This is what makes champions. But don’t get comfortable, they’re not dropping points either."
Bellingham, sweat still dripping, muttered to Vinícius as they pulled on tracksuits.
"It’s going to come down to us and them. It always does."
Vinícius grinned.
"Good. Let’s bury them when the time comes."
The season had only just begun, but the rhythm of inevitability already pulsed through Spanish football.
Barcelona. Real Madrid. Two perfect storms on a collision course.
And Spain, Europe, and the rest of the world waited for the thunderclap.