Barcelona maintained their perfect start to the La Liga season after defeating Levante 4-2 on Sunday, with Lamine Yamal scoring twice to help the champions secure another victory.

The result kept Hansi Flick’s side three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the table, after Madrid defeated Rayo Vallecano 4-1 on Saturday.

Barcelona took control early at the Ciutat de Valencia, with 19-year-old midfielder Xavi Espart opening the scoring in the fifth minute with a deflected effort from the edge of the box.

The goal was Espart’s first for the club since being promoted to the senior team by Flick and deployed at left-back.

Levante responded with sustained pressure and came close to an equaliser, but Petar Ratkov failed to make proper contact with a promising opportunity while Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia denied Roger Brugue.

Barcelona doubled their advantage in the 19th minute when Raphinha rounded goalkeeper Mathew Ryan before setting up Yamal, who finished into an unguarded net.

Yamal added his second shortly after the restart after winning a penalty when he was brought down by Aissa Mandi. The Spain international calmly converted the spot-kick to take his tally to seven goals in four matches across all competitions.

Despite trailing by two goals, Levante continued to threaten and eventually reduced the deficit through Ivan Romero after a defensive mistake from Espart.

The hosts then drew level when Brugue pounced on an error by Marc Bernal. Garcia initially saved his effort, but Brugue reacted quickly to score from the rebound.

Barcelona, however, regained control in stoppage time when substitute Karim Adeyemi raced through the Levante defence before producing a composed finish to seal the 4-2 victory.

The result means Barcelona have won all five of their league matches so far, although the defensive lapses that allowed Levante to recover from 2-0 down will provide Flick with an area to address.

Barcelona will return to action on Wednesday when they host newly promoted Racing Santander, while Levante travel to face Athletic Bilbao.