Today's (yesterday's?) domestic league action.

Well possibly the biggest headline on Monday was the opening of Barcelona's title defense in Spain. They started off powerfully against a decent Villarreal, hammering the visitors 5-0! Thiago Alcantara opened the scoring in the 25th before summer acquisition from Arsenal Cesc Fabregas slotted home in the 45th to make it 2-0 for the half. Alexis Sanchez got the 2nd half started off in the right way for Barcelona with a goal 2 minutes in. Lionel Messi then struck in the 52nd and 74th minutes to complete an utter thrashing. Meanwhile over west in Portugal Benfica have made an early grab for the title with a 0-2 away win against Nacional. Oscar Cardozo gave the Lisbon club the lead in the 25th which was essentially all that separated the two teams in the game. Bruno Cesar then struck in the 5th minute of stoppage time of the 2nd half to put the result beyond all doubt. Braga have also done well for themselves, edging Vitoria 0-1 to grab an important 3 points. Helder Barbosa was the man of the game for the visitors, scoring in the 82nd. Porto have an opportunity to take the league apex though, having 'only' played 2 games amassing just 1 point less than the joint leaders who have 7 from 3 matches. Keep watching!