Each week we will take a look at five things we learned from the weekend of La Liga action. This week, Cristiano Ronaldo made his mark on history, while Lionel Messi and Neymar shone for Barcelona.
1. Ronaldo's eyes on the prize
Cristiano Ronaldo's latest hat trick in Real Madrid's 5-0 win over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday night was perfectly timed. Ronaldo has finally put concerns over his troublesome knee behind him, and now has 13 goals in his last six domestic games.
It is 71 years since Oviedo striker Esteban Echeverria scored so many goals so early in the season. Three hat tricks in his last four domestic outings have taken Ronaldo to 22 in total for Madrid, joining mythical figures Alfredo Di Stefano and Telmo Zarra on what is a record tally of trebles in La Liga.
However, Ronaldo's eyes are likely now looking forward, not back. In an exemplary piece of timing the official FIFA Twitter account posted a message between his first and second goals that read: "It's now exactly 100 days until the #BallondOr ceremony. Will it be @Cristiano's year again?"
It's now exactly 100 days until the #BallondOr ceremony. Will it be @Cristiano's year again? http://t.co/txSzc9I9Vt pic.twitter.com/GaKzbdnoNL
- FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) October 5, 2014
Ronaldo had also cranked up his goal scoring this time 12 months ago, most memorably during Portugal's World Cup playoff with Sweden, and ensured he won a second Ballon d'Or prize.
Germany's Manuel Neuer or Thomas Muller might think their World Cup performances deserve recognition this year but, should Ronaldo keep his current run going through Madrid's upcoming games with Liverpool and Barcelona, he looks odds-on to retain the trophy.
2. Messi and Neymar in same side works really well
This time last season there were many doubts about whether Lionel Messi and Neymar could play together for Barcelona. Neymar arrived in Catalonia talking about just wanting to support his fellow South American, and for a while seemed more interested in passing to Messi than going for goal himself. But that unselfishness did not last too long, and pretty soon pundits were regularly pointing out how rarely the two players interacted on the pitch.
It now seems that the issues were more tactical than personal. Last year, Barca coach Gerardo Martino generally had Neymar stuck out on the left wing, with Messi drifting towards the right, so there were often acres of space between the pair. This season, Luis Enrique has both players positioned much more centrally, with the Argentine tending to drop deep and the Brazilian looking to race in behind the opposition defence.
The idea seems to be working well. Neymar and Messi got one each in Barcelona's routine 2-0 win at Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, and both names have been on the scoresheet in four of Barca's last five games. The chemistry between the pair seems good too, with each smiling as they celebrated the other's strikes at Vallecas.
This seems Enrique's biggest achievement as coach so far, even more than the record seven consecutive clean sheets in the league. His next challenge is to add Luis Suarez to the mix, while keeping Messi and Neymar scoring, and smiling, together.
3. Penalty saving is all in the mind
Diego Alves' penalty save from Atletico Madrid's Guilherme Siqueira during Valencia's 3-1 win at Mestalla was not a huge shock, given the goalkeeper's outstanding record, but it's still well worth highlighting.
Former Almeria shot-stopper Alves has now saved 16 of the 35 penalties he has faced since moving to Spain in 2007, including stops from Ronaldo, Messi and Diego Costa.
Asked afterwards about the secret of his penalty-saving success after Saturday's stop, the Brazilian said it was mostly about winning the mental war with the taker.
"It is a bit about intuition," he said. "I always see it as a psychological war. There is no specific work for it. It is a moment when there are nerves. You have to try to win that war."
Alves was not so keen to divulge exactly what he said to his fellow countryman Siqueira as the Atletico left-back placed the ball on the spot. "It was a conversation between Brazilians," he said, but that was as far as he would go.
Given that Siqueira had converted 11 of his 12 previous penalties in La Liga, often via a "Panenka," he should have been confident of scoring. But Alves easily won their war on Saturday.
4. Depor diving
This has not been a good few weeks for Deportivo La Coruna. In their last four games Depor have been hammered 8-2 by Real Madrid, missed a last-minute penalty to lose the Galician derby 2-1 at Celta Vigo, conceded an injury-time goal on the counter to lose 1-0 at home to Almeria, and on Sunday lunchtime they were beaten 4-1 at Sevilla.
Such a run has seen Depor drop to rock bottom of the Primera Division table and gloom descend on the club. The defence has been particularly shambolic: 19 goals conceded in their first seven games represents the worst record for the club since 1955-56.
"We apologise to our fans for this image," club captain and right-back Laure said on Sunday. "You can lose, but not looking like this. This is not good for us or for the club."
Coach Victor Fernandez tried to look on the bright side, and said the international break would be useful to lift the mood and get injured players back. Their first game back is against in-form Valencia at Riazor, a fixture that has historically brought more pain for Depor fans. They -- and their team -- must now look on it as a way to turn things around.
5. Villarreal efficiency
Villarreal fired in 19 shots against Real Madrid a week ago, but Blancos keeper Iker Casillas kept a clean sheet as his team left El Madrigal with a 2-0 win.
In Sunday's game at Celta Vigo, Villarreal scored from two of their first three efforts at goal, with the game more or less decided when homegrown midfielder Moi Gomez clinically netted twice in two minutes just after the half-hour mark.
Gomez had previously scored just three times in 49 senior games. "I'd never in my life scored two goals in so little time," the 20-year-old said afterwards. "It is pretty difficult to do."
Celta dominated possession throughout the game, and outshot their opponents 15 to 11, but ended up losing 3-1 to go down to their first defeat of the season.
Good things come to those who wait.