The Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán has hosted plenty of grand nights, but few visiting sides have made themselves so thoroughly at home so quickly. Atletico Madrid arrived on Saturday evening and, within half an hour, had dismantled Sevilla with a display of cold, clinical precision. By the interval the game was gone, the scoreboard reading 3-0, and the home crowd sat in stunned silence long before the second half offered them a consolation.

Álex Baena was the architect of the damage, twice finding the bottom corner and leaving Sevilla's defence looking for answers that never came. The 3-1 final scoreline flattered the hosts, who never landed a meaningful blow until the contest had already been decided. For Atletico, it was a statement of intent that lifted them to the top of the table, unbeaten and purring.

This was the kind of away performance that sets the tone for a season. Sharp in transition, ruthless in the box and utterly assured on the ball, Atletico did not so much beat Sevilla as brush them aside. The only frustration for the visitors will be that they eased off enough to allow the home side a moment of dignity.

A blistering start

Sevilla barely had time to settle before the game turned. In the fourth minute, Lee Kang-In slid a pass into Baena, who conjured a right-footed finish from a difficult angle on the right, curling the ball into the bottom left corner. The goal was checked and confirmed following a VAR review, and the visitors had their platform inside the opening exchanges.

From there, Atletico controlled the tempo with the confidence of a side that senses blood. The passing was crisp, the movement relentless, and Sevilla could find no way to stem the tide. Every time the hosts pushed forward, they were met by a wall of red and white and then punished on the counter.

The second arrived on 26 minutes, and it carried the same air of inevitability. Pablo Barrios threaded the ball to Ademola Lookman, whose right-footed strike from the left side of the box nestled once more into the bottom left corner. Two goals, both dispatched with the same unerring accuracy, and Sevilla were already staring at a mountain.

Baena's second seals it

If the opening two goals were built on speed and precision, the third was pure quality. On 33 minutes Marcos Llorente rolled the ball to Baena on the edge of the box, and the midfielder needed no invitation, lashing a right-footed shot from outside the area into the bottom left corner. Three goals, all finished in the same spot, a portrait of a side operating with total control.

It was Baena's evening, and the visiting bench could scarcely contain their satisfaction. His two goals underlined a growing sense that Atletico have found a player capable of deciding matches on the biggest stage. The home defence, meanwhile, had been carved open at will, unable to lay a glove on their tormentor.

By half-time the tie was a formality. Atletico had scored three times from their sharpest opportunities and defended everything else with discipline. Sevilla trooped off to a chorus of discontent, their early-season promise punctured in the space of half an hour.

A hollow consolation

Sevilla emerged for the second half with a point to prove, and to their credit they did at least restore a measure of pride. On 66 minutes Robbie Ure teed up Miguel Sierra, who arrowed a left-footed shot from the centre of the box into the top left corner. It was a fine finish, and for a moment the stadium stirred.

But it was never going to be more than a footnote. The goal narrowed the gap to 3-1, yet Atletico's grip on the contest never loosened. The visitors managed the closing stages with the calm of a team that knew the job had long since been done, seeing out the final quarter without alarm.

For Sevilla, the numbers make for sobering reading. Five points from three matches was a solid enough start, but this defeat exposed the gulf between the ambitious and the elite. Fifth place on six points remains a respectable perch, though nights like this reveal how far there still is to travel.

Summit and stakes

Atletico Madrid climb to the top of La Liga on seven points, unbeaten with two wins and a draw, and with a goal tally of seven scored and only three conceded. This was the performance of a side that intends to stay there, combining attacking flair with defensive solidity in a manner that will worry the rest of the division. Early days, perhaps, but the message could hardly have been clearer.

The manner of the victory matters as much as the result. To dismantle a team of Sevilla's stature in their own stadium, and to do so with such economy, speaks of a group brimming with belief. Baena, Lookman and the supporting cast looked every inch a team ready to sustain a title challenge across the long months ahead.

For Sevilla, the road back begins now. The foundations of a decent start remain, and a squad capable of scoring against a side as organised as this one need not despair. But they will know that displays of this kind cannot be repeated if fifth place is to become something more meaningful. On this evidence, the gap to the summit is not merely a matter of points but of ruthlessness.