For eleven minutes the Spotify Camp Nou hummed with the easy confidence of a side that had won its first two matches without breaking sweat. Then Sergio Camello silenced it. The Rayo Vallecano forward swept a left-footed shot from the centre of the box into the top corner, Álvaro García the provider, and suddenly the league leaders were staring at an inconvenient truth: nobody hands over three points by right.

Barcelona's response was emphatic, and by the final whistle the scoreboard read 5-2, a scoreline that flattened Rayo's resistance and confirmed the champions as the early standard-bearers of La Liga. Raphinha and Lamine Yamal both scored twice, an own goal added gloss, and the visitors were left to rue the fine margins between a plucky afternoon and a heavy defeat.

It was a night that tested Barcelona's temperament before rewarding their quality. Camello struck twice and, for a spell either side of half-time, threatened to turn a comfortable evening into a genuine contest. But the leaders simply had too much invention, too much pace on the counter, and too much conviction in the final third to let the visitors linger.

Instant riposte

The equaliser arrived barely seven minutes after Camello's opener and it carried the fingerprints of restored order. Xavi Espart advanced down the flank and picked out Raphinha in the centre of the box, and the Brazilian lashed a left-footed finish into the bottom right corner. The relief around the stadium was palpable; the swagger returned within moments.

Two minutes later Barcelona were ahead, and this time it was Lamine Yamal who delivered the flourish. Marc Bernal threaded the pass, the teenager drifted into the right side of the box and curled a left-footed shot into the top corner with the sort of nonchalance that has already become his signature. From behind to in front inside 120 seconds, the champions had reasserted themselves in the most brutal fashion.

Those nine frantic minutes reshaped the match. What had looked like an ambush became a demonstration, and Rayo, so bold in the opening exchanges, were forced onto the back foot by a home side that smelled blood. The interval could not come quickly enough for the visitors, who trailed but remained, remarkably, within touching distance.

Camello keeps swinging

Barcelona removed any lingering doubt six minutes after the restart. Florian Lejeune, harried and hemmed in, turned the ball into his own net to make it 3-1, the kind of self-inflicted wound that so often signals the end of a contest. It should have been the moment the game drifted beyond Rayo's reach.

Camello had other ideas. On 59 minutes he rose to meet Unai López's cross following a corner and glanced a header into the bottom left corner, hauling his side back to 3-2 and reminding the Camp Nou that the evening's work was not yet complete. His brace was a testament to a forward playing with fearless clarity, refusing to be cowed by the occasion or the opposition.

For a few minutes Rayo believed. The visitors pressed higher, sensing that one more goal might yet unnerve the leaders, and the home crowd shifted uneasily in their seats. But belief is a fragile thing against a side of this calibre, and Barcelona were about to close the door with the ruthlessness that separates contenders from also-rans.

Killer counters

The decisive blow came on 71 minutes and it was a study in devastating transition. Anthony Gordon broke at speed and released Raphinha on the left side of the box, and the Brazilian steered a left-footed finish into the bottom right corner for his second of the night. The fast break had cut through Rayo's ambition in an instant, punishing their push for parity with cold efficiency.

At 4-2 the contest was effectively settled, and Lamine Yamal supplied the exclamation mark in stoppage time. Collecting from Karim Adeyemi, he arrowed a left-footed strike from outside the box into the bottom left corner, a fifth goal that turned a hard-earned win into a statement. Two goals apiece for the wide men, a night that will do wonders for the confidence of a squad already brimming with it.

The final tally read 5-2, and while the margin looked emphatic, it was earned rather than gifted. Barcelona were made to work, made to answer, made to prove their mettle against a Rayo side that swung until the very end. That they did so with such attacking abandon is precisely why they sit where they do.

Perfect start

Barcelona remain top of La Liga, three wins from three, with twelve goals scored and only two conceded before this evening's exchanges swelled both columns. Nine points from a possible nine is the ideal foundation, and the manner of this victory — a fightback within a match they were expected to win comfortably — suggests a group with both quality and resilience. The leaders have set an early tempo the chasing pack must now match.

For Rayo Vallecano, the reckoning is stark. Eighteenth in the table with a single point from three games, they have shipped goals at an alarming rate and now find themselves in the relegation places before the season has properly taken shape. Camello's brace offers a flicker of hope; a striker in this form is a currency worth clinging to. But the defensive frailties on display will trouble them deeply.

The gulf between these sides was measured not in effort but in ruthlessness. Rayo competed, threatened and refused to fold, yet were undone by a home side that took its chances with a clinical edge they simply could not muster at the other end. There is much to admire in their spirit and much to fix in their structure.

Barcelona move on with their unbeaten record intact and their attacking triumvirate purring. Rayo depart the Camp Nou with lessons written large across the scoreline, and a long season ahead in which points, not plaudits, will be the only currency that counts.