It’s the first time since the 1997/98 season that Barça has stood alone at the top of the league table after the first three games. As now, Mallorca were also in second place.
Aquell curs també s’havien fet vuit gols en les tres primeres jornades i es va acabar sent campió
Match day 3: the stats
11/12: 3rd with 7 points
10/11: 6th with 6 points
09/10: 2nd with 9 points
08/09: 9th with 4 points
07/08: 5th with 5 points
06/07: 2nd with 9 points
05/06: 8th with 4 points
04/05: 3rd with 7 points
03/04: 3rd with 7 points
02/03: 4th with 7 points
01/02: 8th with 5 points
00/01: 5th with 6 points
99/00: 1st with 9 points
98/99: 6th with 5 points
97/98: 1st with 9 points
The start of the 2012/13 season is turning out to be a carbon copy of the league campaign 15 years ago, with FC Barcelona leading the rest of the first division as the only team to win all three opening matches. Fifteen years ago, the first season under Dutch coach Louis van Gaal, Mallorca – who are currently tied on points with Malaga and Rayo Vallecano – were also in second place.
Campaign kicks off against Real Societad
But the similarity between the two seasons doesn’t stop there. Both league campaigns started in the Camp Nou with a comfortable win against Real Societad (3-0 in 1997 and 5-1 this season). And Barça had also played Valencia, although 15 years ago it was a 0-3 away victory in the Mestalla stadium in the second match day. Just as this year, FC Barcelona had scored eight goals in the three matches, conceding just the one then compared to two so far this season.
Three wins in three
Barça have not made a habit of getting off to such a perfect start since then, winning the first three matches on only five occasions – 1997/98, 1999/00, 2006/07, 2009/10 and 2012/13.
Tito Vilanova is only the seventh manager in the history of the Club to have guided the team to three wins out of the three at the beginning of the season, following in the footsteps of Bellamy (1929/30), Brocic (1960/61), César (1963/64), Olsen (1965/66), Venables (1984/85) and Van Gaal (1997/98).