Soccer-LaLiga talking points

Talking points from the weekend in LaLiga.

BARCA IS BACK Barcelona thrashed LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid 4-2 on Sunday and looked a lot more like the club that has won 28 titles in the last decade - more than any other European club in the same period.

It was arguably Barca's best performance of a season that started awfully, got coach Ronald Koeman fired, and only began to make a turn for the better after legendary Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez accepted the challenge of managing his former club and starting a rebuilding operation from November. On Sunday, Atletico were dominated in a way they rarely have been under coach Diego Simeone. A much improved Barca side had more than 60% possession of the ball, and they knew how to exploit Atleti's fragility on the flanks, with veteran Dani Alves and new signing Adama Traore both excelling under Xavi's guidance.

With the arrival of former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who also debuted on Sunday, former Manchester City forward Ferran Torres shining and young academy players Gavi, Pedri and Nico improving rapidly, Xavi's rebuild could produce results sooner than expected. ATLETICO HIT ROCK BOTTOM

The champions' struggles continue as they hit rock bottom - by their standards - after their humiliation at Camp Nou. "The worst performance of Simeone's era," ran the Spanish sports newspaper Marca's headline on Monday, with the Argentinian coach facing growing pressure for the club's poor results this season.

Atleti were leapfrogged by Barcelona in the standings and are currently outside the qualifying places for next year's Champions League. Their usually rock-solid defence appears to be running low on discipline and becoming more prone to mistakes, having leaked 30 goals in 22 league games so far - five more than they conceded during their entire title-winning campaign last season.

Goalkeeper Jan Oblak, for years thought of as one of the best stoppers in the world, has let in more goals than he has shut out (26). And in another sign of their downward trajectory, Atletico have the worse defensive record of the top 10 sides in LaLiga, having won only three of their last 10 games in all competitions.

SEVILLA GET A FLAT TIRE Real Madrid have dominated the league table with relative ease, and second-placed Sevilla have so far shown the best chance of threatening them - until their goalless draw with Osasuna on Saturday.

Their dream of winning their first Spanish league title since 1946 faded farther after that result, their third consecutive league stalemate. Real Madrid extended their lead at the top to six points after winning 1-0 against Granada on Sunday.

When Sevilla host Elche on Friday, they will have gone more a month without a win in all competitions.

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