The Blaugrana face Villarreal in the standout game of this round, but that is not the only exciting game, as Atletico Madrid visit Rayo Vallecano on Monday.

Matchday 3 in La Liga is upon us, with the latest round in the Spanish top flight kicking off on Friday with Real Sociedad's trip to Las Palmas — this is one of only two fixtures taking place this Friday, alongside Real Madrid's clash away to Celta Vigo.

The majority of this round will take place over the weekend, with three scheduled for Saturday and another three penciled in on Sunday. Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, will feature in one of the two games taking place on Monday. 

All eyes will be on Real Madrid and Barcelona, who are not far from each other in the table but have endured drastically different starts to the campaign. Meanwhile, Rayo Vallecano have gotten off to a lovely start but the question on everyone's mind is how long they can maintain this, especially given their upcoming opponent.

Here is everything you need to know about Matchday 3 in La Liga.

Broadcast information for La Liga in the United States

La Liga comes to your screens in the USA courtesy of ABC and ESPN's array of platforms, with the bulk of Matchday 2 in the Spanish top flight being aired on ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes.

La Liga standings ahead of Matchday 3 

Pos.TeamMPWDLGFGAGDPForm
1 Real Madrid 34 27 6 1 74 22 +52 87 WWWWW
2 Girona 34 23 5 6 73 42 +31 74 WWWLW
3 Barcelona 34 22 7 5 70 43 +27 73 LWLWW
4 Atlético Madrid 34 21 4 9 63 39 +24 67 WWLWW
5 Athletic Club 34 17 10 7 55 33 +22 61 WLDDL
6 Real Sociedad 34 14 12 8 48 35 +13 54 WLDDW
7 Real Betis 34 13 13 8 43 39 +4 52 WDWWL
8 Valencia 34 13 8 13 37 39 -2 47 LLLWW
9 Villarreal 34 12 9 13 56 58 -2 45 LWWDL
10 Getafe 34 10 13 11 41 47 -6 43 LWDDL
11 Deportivo Alavés 34 11 8 15 32 38 -6 41 WWWLL
12 Osasuna 34 11 6 17 37 51 -14 39 LLLLW
13 Sevilla 33 9 11 13 42 46 -4 38 DWWWL
14 Las Palmas 34 10 7 17 30 43 -13 37 LLLLL
15 Celta de Vigo 34 8 10 16 40 52 -12 34 WLWLD
16 Rayo Vallecano 34 7 13 14 27 43 -16 34 LLWDD
17 Mallorca 34 6 14 14 27 40 -13 32 LDLLD
18 Cádiz 34 4 14 16 23 49 -26 26 LDLLW
19 Granada 33 4 9 20 36 61 -25 21 WDWLL
20 Almería 34 2 11 21 33 67 -34 17 WLLDL

Champions League (Group Stage)
Europa League (Group Stage)
Promotion - Europa Conference League (Qualification: )
Relegation - LaLiga2

Top games to watch on Matchday 3 of La Liga

Celta Vigo vs Real Madrid

Los Blancos currently top the table after kicking off the campaign with back-to-back wins. In fact, they are one of only three teams to have a perfect record so far, beating Athletic Club 2-0 in their opener before triumphing 3-1 over Almeria. Celta Vigo, meanwhile, who narrowly avoided relegation last term, are yet to win a game this season, kicking off the campaign with a defeat and a draw. The Sky Blues have the home advantage but that might not mean much when Ancelotti's side pay them a visit.

Villarreal vs Barcelona

The standout game of this round is undoubtedly Barcelona's trip to Villarreal. Despite being the reigning champions, Xavi's side have been below par so far, drawing 0-0 away to Getafe in a heated opener before limping to a 2-0 victory over Cadiz over the weekend. The Catalan giants failed to impress in both games and will need to figure things out quickly in order to maintain pace with Real Madrid.

The hosts, meanwhile, are not too far off Barcelona, having won one and lost the other. This means they trail the Catalan giants by a single point after two rounds and can leapfrog Lewandowski and Co. with a win on Sunday. However, the Yellow Submarine lost both home and away to the Blaugrana last term and will need to improve on this.

Rayo Vallecano vs Atletico Madrid

Despite losing Andoni Iraola, their highly-rated former manager, Rayo Vallecano have gotten off to an emphatic start in La Liga. Alongside Real Madrid and Valencia, the hosts are one of only three sides with a perfect start, winning their opening two fixtures against Granada and Almeria, which should give them the confidence to beat Atletico Madrid. Last season, Los Franjirrojos took four points off of eventual champions Barcelona. Can they take down another Spanish powerhouse this term?

As for Diego Simeone's men, there has been nothing impressive about their start to the campaign, A win and a draw from their opening two games leave Los Rojiblancos with four points, which is lovely, and falling two points behind your rivals this early in the season is not a death sentence. Nonetheless, Griezmann and Co. were held to a goalless draw by Real Betis in the most recent round and cannot afford to drop further points.

Who's in and who's out

Here are the list of players injured from La Liga's top clubs

Real Sociedad: Andre Silva and Martin Merquelanz (injured)

Real Madrid: Thibaut Courtois, Arda Guler, and Eder Militao (injured)

Villarreal: Francis Coquelin and Alberto Moreno (injured)

Barcelona: Inigo Martinez, Ronald Araujo, and Pedri (injured); Raphinha (suspended)

Sevilla: Tanguy Nianzou, Marcao, and Marcos Acuna (injured)

Atletico Madrid: Reinildo Mandava, Jose Maria Gimenez, Koke, and Vitolo (all injured)

Real Betis: Nabil Fekir (injured)

Full list of games for Matchday 3 in La Liga