Is Barcelona in its own league?

With La Liga now settled into a familiar routine of catch-up between Real Madrid and Barcelona, the former's 3-1 win at Zaragoza saw José Mourinho's side top the table for 24 hours before the latter took to the field at Camp Nou to face one of this season's surprise packages, Real Sociedad.

The Basque club has defied the usual role of promoted teams and cantered into the top 10 on a run of results that culminated in a 2-1 derby win against local rival Athletic last week. But against Barça, Martín Lasarte's side looked as if it should be propping up the table. The problem facing the first division's other 19 teams is that this is becoming a weekly event: even Real was made to look like a Segunda team when it visited Camp Nou. "We were on the field as though we were asking permission, against a team with a great legend surrounding it. It was as if we were the only earthly players," as Lasarte eloquently put it after the 5-0 loss.

Real coach Lasarte: "We were on the field as though asking permission"

But few adjectives are left to describe this Barça team, and there is little or no evidence that it will lose another game this season. In the two and a half seasons Pep Guardiola has been in charge Barça has lost just seven times; five of those in his first season. Last year only Atlético Madrid beat Barcelona. Perhaps only next weekend's opponent, Espanyol, can upset Guardiola's well stocked apple cart this year.

Currently fourth, Barça's city rival has come along way since appointing coach Mauricio Pochettino just a few weeks before the February 2009 Catalan derby, and the former Espanyol player masterminded a 2-1 win at Camp Nou. Despite a large disparity in historical results, few culés will forget Raúl Tamudo's goal that cost Barcelona the title in 2006-07 and they gave the now Sociedad player a warm reception at Camp Nou on Sunday.