La Liga, Week 3: Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico and Villarreal remain perfect

Valencia were superb against Barcelona after recovering from a 3-0 deficit, but they didn’t have enough in the tank to find the third goal as Barcelona held on to their perfect record and retook the top spot in the table.

Messi was back again in the 41st minute finishing off a fantastic cross from Neymar as he blasted a low shot past a helpless Alves to complete the first half hat trick.

The first of his two goals late in the first half was spectacular as he directed a cross from defender João Pereira past Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdés with a ridiculous scissor kick.

Postiga scored on a header three minutes later, but he’ll probably need a couple more if Valencia hopes to pull off a winning result against Barca.

Barcelona could very well be a bit tired after their match against Atletico on Wednesday and based on the traveling squad, head coach Gerando Martino is aware of that. Tata intends to rest regular starters Xavi Hernandez and Alexis Sanchez and neither player will travel for the game.

Valencia haven’t beaten Barca since the 2006-07 season.

Neither team has lost yet in the league this season and Athletic Club are actually ahead of Madrid in the table tanks to their two wins versus Madrid win and a draw. Don’t get too excited though as the two wins for Ernesto Valverde’s team have come against two of three clubs currently residing in the bottom three of the table. This should be an excellent test of just how far Athletic have come early in the season.

Carlo Ancelotti continues to have selection problems in the defensive midfield with Sami Khedria and Asier Illarramendi both not expected to be ready for the match. Isco will likely drop deeper for the second straight match, unless Ancelotti moves Pepe forward and starts Raphael Varane in the central defense.