La Liga Daily Report - 2026-09-17: Barcelona thrash Racing Santander 7-2 to maintain perfect start

Barcelona beat Racing Santander 7-2 on Wednesday, September 16, to preserve their perfect start across all competitions. Raphinha scored a hat-trick, while João Cancelo, Lamine Yamal and Gabriel Jesus also found the net, with an own goal completing the rout. The victory was Barcelona’s seventh consecutive win, and their fifth by at least five goals. They had scored 33 times in those seven matches, conceding seven, while the 7-2 result left them top of La Liga on 18 points after six matches.

Raphinha said Barcelona’s players remained hungry for more goals, having scored at least four in all but one of their matches. His 11 goals across all competitions included nine in the league, making him La Liga’s leading scorer in the reports. Hansi Flick praised the side’s bravery and performance but warned that lapses still allowed Racing to create danger. The manager’s emphasis on improvement reflected the challenge ahead: Barcelona’s outstanding attacking numbers have been accompanied by a demand for greater defensive focus as the season develops.

Real Madrid beat Elche 3-2 on Tuesday, September 15, after Carlos Espí scored in stoppage time to settle a match they had led by two goals. Matías Dituro’s own goal opened the scoring in the 25th minute before Kylian Mbappé doubled the advantage eight minutes later. Elche responded after the interval through Abiel Osorio and Fer Niño, but Espí restored Madrid’s lead in the 91st minute after Jude Bellingham carried the ball forward and Mbappé supplied the final pass. The result moved Madrid level with Barcelona on 15 points, while Elche remained winless on two points.

José Mourinho admitted that Madrid had lost control after making a comfortable start, but said the team reacted under pressure and secured the outcome. Bellingham’s contribution was particularly significant after he entered as a second-half substitute, driving the move that produced the winner. Mbappé also scored against the final La Liga opponent he had previously faced without finding the net, completing a scoring sequence against all 23 sides he has encountered since joining Madrid. Espí’s late intervention nevertheless underlined how narrow the margin had become.

Real Betis beat Getafe 1-0 on Thursday, September 17, extending their winning run to four matches in all competitions. Abde Ezzalzouli scored shortly before half-time after video review confirmed that there had been no handball in the build-up. The forward finished from the centre of the box after meeting a cross from Troy Parrott, who also tested David Soria from distance. Getafe goalkeeper Soria made several saves, including against Antony, while Mario Martín was dismissed late after receiving a second yellow card.

The victory lifted Betis to 15 points, level with second-placed Real Madrid, while Barcelona remained three points clear at the summit. Manuel Pellegrini’s side had entered the match with a three-game winning sequence and used another narrow result to maintain its strong early position. Getafe’s fourth match without a win, together with three away defeats this season, left them still searching for a change in momentum. Betis’ ability to protect a one-goal lead gave their campaign further substance, particularly in a contest where Soria kept the visitors competitive.

Levante’s La Liga match against Athletic Club was postponed minutes before kick-off on Wednesday, September 16, after torrential rain flooded the Ciutat de València. The pitch became unplayable and the tunnel connecting the dressing rooms to the field was submerged, preventing the fixture from starting at its scheduled 9.30pm local time. LaLiga officials, the referee and representatives of both clubs inspected the conditions before deciding that the match could not proceed. Both sides had already named their starting line-ups, with Levante’s team including Liverpool loanee Ifeanyi Ndukwe.

The postponement left the fixture without a score or match statistics and denied Ndukwe the opportunity to make his first start for Levante. The 18-year-old centre-back had joined on a season-long loan after Liverpool signed him from Austria Vienna for £2.6 million. Supporters were moved from the stands to lower areas of the stadium as they waited for the weather to ease, while Athletic players were shown reacting to the flooded tunnel. LaLiga was expected to announce a rearranged date and kick-off time after the clubs reached an agreement.

LaLiga president Javier Tebas said on September 17 that Spain’s chances of hosting the 2030 World Cup final could become minimal or disappear if Gianni Infantino remains FIFA president. Tebas made the comments to reporters at the World Football Summit in Madrid, linking the final’s location to next year’s FIFA presidential election. His intervention followed continuing debate over whether the showpiece match would be staged in Spain or Morocco, after Morocco’s football federation president Fouzi Lekjaa said it would be played at the Hassan II Stadium in the Casablanca region.

Tebas also suggested that Spain might need to reconsider its position within the 2030 World Cup project if the final were awarded to Morocco. The remarks extended his recent criticism of Infantino and FIFA, turning a stadium-location dispute into a wider institutional confrontation. Spain, Portugal and Morocco are the tournament’s hosts, but the final venue remains a politically sensitive question with major commercial and symbolic importance. Tebas’ comments indicated that the issue could remain active well beyond the current La Liga season and into the FIFA election process.

LaLiga announced a sponsorship agreement with South Korean financial firm Woori Investment & Securities on September 17, creating the first official partnership between the league and a South Korean financial company. The deal will focus on supporter experiences rather than conventional logo exposure, including trips to Spain for matches involving Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Real Sociedad. Woori will also organise a programme connected to attending El Clásico and plans to combine club and player content with financial-services initiatives through its mobile trading platform.

The partnership reflects LaLiga’s effort to deepen its relationship with supporters in South Korea and reach younger investors through football. Woori said it wanted to raise awareness of its retail brand, while LaLiga’s Asia managing director Ivan Codina described the agreement as a way to bring the competition closer to Korean fans. Game-style features linking football content with wealth management are expected to form part of the activation. The arrangement gives LaLiga another international commercial channel while placing fan travel and interactive content at the centre of the relationship.