FC Barcelona 6-1 Deportivo Alavés: Primera Division Match Report, 31 October 2026

FC Barcelona 6-1 Deportivo Alavés, and 4-0 at the interval. Six days after their first defeat of the season, the champions had this one settled by half-time, and the second half — two more for Barcelona, one for Alavés — only added to the margin.

The defeat in question was 1-2 at home to Real Madrid, which ended a run of nine straight league wins and left Barcelona top on twenty-seven points from ten, with forty goals scored and a goal difference of plus twenty-nine. Scoring had never been their problem: five at Elche, five at Valencia, seven against Racing de Santander, five at Real Betis. It was not a problem here either.

Alavés arrived seventh on twelve points, and the position flattered the recent run. Ten of those twelve points came from their first four matches, capped by a 5-2 win over Osasuna on 6 September; since then they had gone six without a win and taken two points. Away from Mendizorrotza they had not won at all — two draws, two defeats, three goals scored. Their defence was a different matter, eleven conceded in ten, which is what makes the half-time score stand out: four goals in forty-five minutes, more than a third of what they had let in all season up to kick-off.

Alavés had won the most recent meeting, 1-0 at Mendizorrotza in May, holding a half-time lead to the end. This time the half-time lead belonged to Barcelona, and it was four goals wide.

There was no call from us before this match. The site was not updated over the final weekend of October, so it came and went without a preview.

Barcelona went to thirty points from eleven matches, ten wins and the one defeat, and to a goal difference of plus thirty-four. Forty-six league goals in eleven games is close to half the ninety-five they scored in the whole of last season, when they won the league on ninety-four points. This was also their fourth five-goal win of the campaign, after 5-0 at Elche, 5-0 at Valencia and 7-2 against Racing.

The rate is quicker than last season's, too: thirty from eleven is about 2.7 points a game, against roughly 2.5 in the title-winning campaign. At home they have now won five of six and scored twenty-four. Eleven games is still an early sample, and the 1-2 against Real Madrid is the only mark against it.

For Alavés the numbers are starker than the position. They stay on twelve points from eleven, now seven matches without a win, and the goal difference of plus three they brought into the evening is gone: minus two, after conceding as many in one match as in their previous five combined. Last season they finished on forty-three points, level with Elche and Sevilla, and twelve from eleven keeps them close to that pace, so the total is not the problem yet. The run is: two points from the seven matches since the Osasuna win.