Real Madrid missed the chance to enter the international break top of the La Liga table after conceding late on in Sunday evening's Madrid derby against Atletico Madrid.
Karim Benzema's first-half header looked to be sending Los Blancos to the summit, but Luciano Vietto's late leveller for Atletico meant that Villarreal would top the table after week seven, despite the fact that Marcelino's side were beaten 1-0 at Levante on Sunday afternoon.
There was more misery for Barcelona on Saturday, with Luis Enrique's champions losing 2-1 at Sevilla. As a result, the Catalan side sit fourth in the table on 15 points and have already been beaten twice in the league this season.
In fact, none of the top six in La Liga won this weekend, with Celta Vigo also dropping points in a goalless draw at home to Getafe on Friday and Deportivo La Coruna being held to a 1-1 draw away to Granada.
Elsewhere, Sporting Gijon rose into 11th position with a 2-1 win at Espanyol, while Eibar moved into seventh position with a 2-0 victory at Las Palmas. There was more misery for David Moyes, however, as his Real Sociedad team lost 3-1 at Malaga, who finally got off the mark in terms of goals.
Athletic Bilbao also moved out of trouble on Sunday with a 3-1 win over Valencia, who have struggled to produce their best form in the early part of the campaign and currently sit down in ninth position. Real Betis, meanwhile, continued their solid start with a 2-0 success at Rayo Vallecano.
Just 12 points separate first-place Villarreal and basement side Granada, while there are only five points between the top eight teams, which is surprising at this stage of the season. No team has taken charge of the division, with Real Madrid and Barcelona both having their problems in the early weeks of the campaign.
European football now takes a break with international football upon us, but here, Sports Mole has taken the time to pick out its star XI from another pulsating weekend of football in Spain's top flight.
Formation: 4-3-3
Keylor Navas (Real Madrid)
Navas came very close to leaving Real Madrid in the summer, but his attention has not been elsewhere this season. In fact, the Costa Rican has hardly put a foot, or a hand wrong. The international goalkeeper made a wonderful save to deny Antoine Griezmann from the penalty spot in Sunday's derby, before keeping out a stinging drive from Jackson Martinez late on.
Fernando Navarro (Deportivo La Coruna)
Deportivo have perhaps been the surprise story of this season, with just one defeat from their seven league games leaving them in sixth position in the table. They moved from 11 points to 12 at the weekend with a 1-1 draw at Granada and it was Navarro that really impressed at the back. The defender set up Faycal Fajr for the opener and was also very solid down the other end.
Simao Junior (Levante)
Central defence is not a position that Simao has played too often for Levante since joining the Spanish club in 2013, but he had a super game in that role against Villarreal. The 27-year-old, who started as the right centre-back in what was a back five, managed to contain Villarreal's in-form forwards as Levante secured all the points. It may well be Simao's new long-term position.
Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Bilbao)
Bilbao have done well to keep Laporte out of the clutches of a number of interested clubs, but that task will become harder and harder as the Frenchman continues to grow. The youngster had another impressive game this weekend as he opened the scoring in Bilbao's 3-1 win over Valencia. The centre-back was also very strong down the other end against Alvaro Negredo.
Benoit Tremoulinas (Sevilla)
The Frenchman was a threat going forward in Sevilla's 2-1 win over Barcelona on Saturday, but it was his defensive work that made it such an impressive performance. As expected, Barca forced the issue in the latter stages, but the left-back was on hand to make a number of excellent interceptions – including an outstanding challenge on Sandro Ramirez, who had looked certain to score.
Michael Krohn-Dehli (Sevilla)
Krohn-Dehli has not always been in the Sevilla team this season following his summer move from Celta Vigo, but he made a point against Barcelona. The Dane opened the scoring early in the second period, before setting up Vicente Iborra as the hosts took a two-goal lead in Seville. Barca just could not come to terms with the midfielder's position as he drifted all over the field.
Casemiro (Real Madrid)
The Brazilian was somewhat of a surprise choice in the Real Madrid midfield against Atletico, but it proved to be a fine decision from Rafael Benitez. It was a coming-of-age performance from the former Porto loanee, who put out a number of fires and was also calm and composed in possession of the ball. He was the best outfield player in a white shirt at the Vicente Calderon.
Alen Halilovic (Sporting Gijon)
As Barcelona's injury crisis worsens, supporters will be questioning why Halilovic was allowed to leave the club on loan. The 19-year-old has shone since joining Sporting Gijon in the summer and he played a key role in their 2-1 win at Espanyol on Saturday. The Croatian opened the scoring in the 10th minute and continued to cause problems throughout his 82 minutes on the field.
Charles (Malaga)
Malaga failed to score in their first six games of the new La Liga season – a new record – but that came to an end against Real Sociedad on Saturday. It was Charles that netted all three of the home side's goals in their 3-1 victory against Moyes's outfit, with the Brazilian scoring twice inside the opening seven minutes, before completing his treble late on. The striker had a fine evening.
Ruben Castro (Real Betis)
It is difficult to downplay Castro's importance to Betis and in seven league appearances this season, he has scored four goals and provided two assists. It was once again the 34-year-old that made the difference for his team at the weekend as he set up his team's first in their 2-0 win at Rayo Vallecano, before scoring the second himself. It was another first-class performance.
Aritz Aduriz (Athletic Bilbao)
It is somewhat of a surprise that Aduriz was not included in the latest Spain squad, but he did not let that impact on his performance at the weekend. Incredibly, the 34-year-old has now scored 11 times in all competitions this season after adding another in Bilbao's 3-1 win over Valencia. The Spaniard also turned provider for Markel Susaeta in what was yet another excellent performance.
Matt Law
