Six of the seven goals at the Bernabeu were scored in a hugely entertaining first half that finished with Madrid leading 4-2, and after the break Numancia could only find one of the two goals they needed to get anything out of the game.

Juan Moreno stunned the home fans when he put Numancia ahead in the seventh minute, but Guti fired Madrid level with the club's 5,000th Primera Liga goal.

Madrid looked to have recovered from that early wobble, but they found themselves behind again as Jose Barkero lashed in what will go down as one of the goals of the season, sending an unstoppable shot into the top corner of Iker Casillas' net from 30 yards out.

However, Madrid replied with three goals before half-time as Gonzalo Higuain and debutant Rafael van der Vaart scored before Numancia defender Domingo Cisma put the ball into his own net.

Moreno pulled one back for Numancia 11 minutes into the second half but there would be no way back for the visitors.

Unai Emery watched his Valencia side grab a deserved point in a 2-2 draw on his first return to Almeria.

Emery, who led Almeria to an unexpected eighth-placed finish last season, was indebted to star striker David Villa after the Spain international snatched a 69th-minute equaliser for the visitors.

Almeria led twice, through Pablo Piatti and Alvaro Negredo, but Emery's men again served notice that they will be a greater threat this year than last by hitting back through Alexis and Villa.

Luis Garcia's late strike gave Espanyol an impressive 1-0 win at Recreativo Huelva to keep up their strong start to the new campaign.

Following an even first 83 minutes of action, the Spain forward bagged the only goal of the game to give new coach Bartolome Marquez a second successive win and hand the Catalans their best start to a season since 1994.

Villarreal secured their first win of the Primera Liga season with a 1-0 success over Deportivo La Coruna at El Madrigal.

A stunning long-range strike from winger Santi Cazorla was enough to settle the match.

Javier Portillo struck six minutes from time to win a valuable point for Osasuna at Real Mallorca in a 1-1 draw.

The former Real Madrid striker came off the bench midway through the second half and provided the moment of inspiration needed to level after the visitors had chased the game since Mallorca's early opener, which was scored by Basque striker Aritz Aduriz.

The games between Malaga and Athletic Bilbao, and between Getafe and Real Betis ended goalless.

On Saturday, Frederic Kanoute scored twice to lead Sevilla to a thrilling 4-3 win at home to Sporting Gijon, while Barcelona's disappointing start to the season continued with a 1-1 draw at home to Racing Santander.

Atletico Madrid's strong start came to an abrupt end as they lost 2-1 to 10-man Real Valladolid.