La Liga Results 2016 Week 1: Final Scores and Updated Table After Saturday
Barcelona's La Liga title defence got off to a rip-roaring start on Saturday after the Blaugrana demolished Real Betis 6-2 to begin their 2016-17 season in barnstorming fashion.
Luis Suarez opened his campaign with a hat-trick display against Los Verdiblanco, and Lionel Messi contributed a brace to go along with Arda Turan's sixth-minute breakthrough.
That result shot the reigning champions to the summit of La Liga, and the Catalan giants will hope to remain there for the rest of the season.
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Sevilla came out on top of a 10-goal thriller against Espanyol, while Villarreal took a point from their trip to Granada after drawing 1-1 in their opening fixture of the 2016-17 season later on Saturday.
Read on for a roundup of Saturday's results from the Spanish top flight, complete with updated standings and a recap of the latest Week 1 scores.
| Barcelona | 6-2 | Real Betis |
| Granada | 1-1 | Villarreal |
| Sevilla | 6-4 | Espanyol |
| 1 | Barcelona | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 3 |
| 2 | Sevilla | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 3 |
| 3 | Deportivo La Coruna | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| 4 | Osasuna | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Villarreal | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Granada | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Malaga | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Real Sociedad | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Sporting Gijon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Alaves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Athletic Club | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Atletico Madrid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Celta Vigo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Valencia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Las Palmas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Leganes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Real Madrid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Eibar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| 19 | Espanyol | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 0 |
| 20 | Real Betis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 0 |
Recap
Suarez stole the show with another three-goal haul for Luis Enrique's men, as Betis' return to domestic action took a nightmarish turn at the Camp Nou.
OptaJose highlighted that three has been the magic number for Suarez since last August, and the Uruguayan looks as though he's in the mood for another prolific season with the Blaugrana:
Since moving to the Camp Nou in the summer of 2014, the former Liverpool striker has reached new heights alongside the likes of Messi and Neymar, the latter of whom was absent for his side's opening fixture.
Turan opened Saturday's scoring early on, before Messi and his partner in crime joined in that order. Suarez notched another two after that to take his recent scoring tally even higher, per Squawka:
Those who claim the 29-year-old to be the most devastating striker on the planet right now could be justified after Saturday's display, where Betis were found to be miles off the pace.
Despite Suarez's three-goal impact, however, WhoScored.com actually nominated the perfect performance of Messi for man of the match:
Betis' challenge initially looked quite strong, and Ruben Castro's first goal after 21 minutes even managed to pull his side level for a short while.
His second didn't come until the 84th minute, however, and it was little more than a consolation at that point. Barca bulldozed their way to a winning start with relative ease.
Sevilla made a booming start to life under new manager Jorge Sampaoli in the late fixture and defeated Espanyol 6-4 after Luciano Vietto bagged a brace and was one of five debutant scorers for the hosts.
The Argentinian, currently on loan at Sevilla from Atletico Madrid, bagged two first-half goals as Sevilla twice came back from behind to emerge as victors, and Squawka detailed how his form has improved:
He was joined on the scoresheet by Pablo Sarabia, Hiroshi Kiyotake, Franco Vazquez and Wissam Ben Yedder, each of whom moved to the club this summer and have made bright starts to league life in Seville.
Football writer Daniel Edwards attested to the swift improvements made by former Chile head coach Sampaoli:
Elsewhere, Villarreal's season got off to a slow start in their trip Granada, where Samu Castillejo saw his 61st-minute opener cancelled out just four minutes later by Ezequiel Ponce.
David Cartlidge of beIN Sports added that Alexandre Pato failed to inspire on his La Liga debut for the Yellow Submarine:
Villarreal could consider themselves unfortunate not to take more than a point from the clash, considering both Roberto Soriano and Nicola Sansone hit the woodwork in the opening 25 minutes of the second half.
Granada, on the other hand, can afford to be content with escaping their opener with a share of a spoils, a result that promises to provide a boost in morale moving ahead this season.
