If Raphinha has any misgivings about playing as a makeshift No 9 for Barcelona, he is doing a good job of hiding it. Julián Álvarez would have been proud of the Brazilian’s two neat finishes that inspired the Spanish champions to a 5-2 victory against Rayo Vallecano on Monday night, 24 hours before the transfer deadline. Lamine Yamal scored two wonderful goals of his own in a performance that reassured everyone he is back to his best. Add Anthony Gordon to the mix – impressive again in his link-up play – and you have a fluid, fearsome front three.

Yet after the departures of Ferran Torres, Robert Lewandowski and Marcus Rashford this summer, there is no doubt Barcelona not only still want a centre-forward but require one – at least one. Hansi Flick was very happy to see Gabriel Jesus, an £8.6m arrival from Arsenal, in the stands. “He’s a top striker,” the coach said. But Atlético Madrid’s Álvarez is the ultimate prize.

While Mikel Arteta has apparently attempted to speed up a possible deal with a phone call to Álvarez, the Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, has conducted his interest largely in public. He stirred the pot again last Wednesday after Arsenal’s interest was firmed up. “This whole situation has created a lot of noise,” said Laporta, who specialises in creating a lot of noise, in a video on Barça’s social channels. “Atlético told us they were not selling [Alvarez]. However, it looks like, from what we hear now, they are trying to reach agreements with other clubs.”

Laporta left little to the imagination: “We are very interested in buying Julián Álvarez. We would like our offer to be accepted.” Atlético are not playing ball – and who can blame them? Barcelona’s courting of Antoine Griezmann, who announced he was staying at Atlético in a TV documentary in 2018 only to move to the Camp Nou in 2019, still leaves a sour taste. Again they have shown disapproval at Barcelona’s behaviour in their pursuit of Álvarez. “This situation isn’t about money, it’s about dignity,” an embattled Atlético said in a statement the day after Laporta’s video message.

After the hostile reception he received from Atlético’s fans at the Metropolitano when coming on as a substitute against Villarreal the previous weekend, Álvarez missed some training sessions and Saturday’s 3-1 win at Sevilla. Atlético said the striker was unwell. He returned to training on Sunday, with Arsenal appearing his only route out by the end of Tuesday – “there is zero consideration of an Álvarez transfer to Barcelona,” Atlético said.

Álvarez’s absence was felt keenly at the Camp Nou on Monday – for about 20 minutes. After some sloppy Barcelona finishing and an emphatic strike from Rayo’s Sergio Camello, a striker who came through Atlético’s academy, the headlines were obvious. But the narrative did not come to the rescue of the Rayo centre-back Pathé Ciss, who ended up on his backside after Raphinha skipped past him and slotted in the equaliser.

On an evening when Argentina’s footballers were writing Instagram posts about international retiree Lionel Messi, Barcelona’s current No 10 paid tribute in his own way. Lamine Yamal cut inside and whipped a shot past the flying Dani Cárdenas, high at his near post, to establish a lead that was never surrendered. After rumours about the 19-year-old’s fitness and wellbeing circulated after his sluggish start to the season, Flick reminded everyone that the kid had only three weeks’ holiday since beating Messi and Argentina in the World Cup final. Lamine Yamal was reaching his “top level” in training, Flick insisted, and it was hard to argue with him.

It was also hard to argue with Florian Lejeune when the Rayo defender said in a half-time interview that Barcelona “are very good”. Six minutes after the restart, he turned the ball into his own net. Gordon, the most expensive outlay at the Camp Nou this summer except perhaps for the new roof that is still under construction, provided the cross for that own goal and a great deal more from the left wing. The England forward’s selfless passing and running has quickly endeared him to supporters and there were chants of “Gordon, Gordon, Gordon” from behind the goal. His backheel set up Raphinha’s second and Barça’s fourth to make it three assists in three games.

After an hour of chasing after Pedri, Dani Olmo and Marc Bernal, Rayo’s midfield had to contend with Rodri off the bench. The marquee arrival from Manchester City did not have the chance to parade the World Cup he had won as Spain’s captain before his Barcelona debut in last Thursday’s win over Athletic . Barça snubbed the trophy presentation following a row over the arrest of one of their supporters who was carrying an Estelada flag – a symbol of the Catalan independence movement – outside the stadium before their season opener at Elche. Athletic’s Spain players had faced whistles from some Basque fans when they presented the trophy in Bilbao. Real Madrid’s Marc Cucurella and Real Sociedad’s Mikel Oyarzabal were given a warm reception at the Bernabéu last week.

Lamine Yamal’s second against Rayo, another Messi-esque finish from the edge of the box, put the result beyond doubt. Barcelona and Real Madrid – the only teams with 100% records after three games – are yet to blink as the title race begins, but all eyes on transfer deadline day, you expect, will be on the exit door at Atlético’s training ground.

Talking points

• While Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappé were on the scoresheet in Real Madrid’s 4-0 home win against Málaga, it was the performance of Trent Alexander-Arnold that was perhaps most striking. The former Liverpool right-back was a creative force, setting up Madrid’s third for Mbappé, in his first start under José Mourinho. Mbappé, tipped for the Ballon d’Or by Mourinho last week, topped the scoring charts for a day or so after his sweeping finish from Alexander-Arnold’s low cross.

• Aside from Mbappé the most in-form striker in La Liga might be Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The 37-year-old scored for the third game in a row as Deportivo beat Valencia 3-1 at Riazor for their first top-flight victory since 2018. Aubameyang could not suppress a giggle at the mention of Adama Traoré in a post-match chat with the media – his former Barcelona teammate has just signed from West Ham: “I’ve told him: ‘We are waiting for you.’”

• Despite competition from Deportivo’s Bright Ede, who crossed the ball into his own box for Valencia to score, defensive mishap of the weekend goes to Matías Dituro. The 39-year-old Elche goalkeeper tried to juggle the ball into his own penalty area to pick it up but was beaten to it by Levante’s Yassir Zabiri, who poked in the first of a hat-trick in Racing Santander’s first win in primera since 2012. “Matías is a very daring goalkeeper. We had spoken to Yassir: I thought he could win the ball off him – and look how it turned out,” said Racing’s prophetic head coach, José Alberto.

• Sid Lowe is away