With their 3-0 win over Villarreal, Barcelona is now in first place in the La Liga standings.

Neymar once again stole the show with two goals in the second half. The young Brazilian superstar now has 11 goals, the most in the entire league this year. Barcelona has won their last four consecutive league games, and they have looked great in the UEFA Champions League as well. Luis Suarez found the net this week via penalty kick. The last 14 league goals for Barcelona have been scored by either Neymar or Suarez.

The nominees for the FIFA Puskas award have already been named, but Neymar scored an incredible goal this week certainly worthy of the award. After receiving a pass in the middle from the left side, he kicked the ball up and around his defender. He then launched a shot towards the net and scored to make it a 3-0. An amazing goal indeed. More than likely Lionel Messi's goal against Athletic Bilbao will win goal of the year however.

Barcelona is performing surprisingly well without Messi. One could only imagine how good Barcelona will be once the Argentine superstar returns.

Part of the reason Barcelona was able to return to the No. 1 spot was because Real Madrid lost. Real Madrid's loss against Sevilla was their first defeat of the season, and a disappointing one indeed considering they had the lead. Cristiano Ronaldo still one of the best in the game today, but he's in a bit of a slump, and others need to step up around him. This was the first game all season in which Real Madrid allowed three goals.

With that loss, Real Madrid is now just one point ahead of Atletico Madrid in the standings. Atletico Madrid has a strong squad this year once again, and they did tie with Real Madrid in Week 7. Either Barcelona, Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid have won the last 11 Spanish League titles, so it's no surprise that those three clubs are atop the standings.

Barcelona's next La Liga game will be against Real Madrid in the famous El Clasico on Nov. 21. However, there will not be any league games this upcoming weekend because of the CONMEBOL qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Neymar and Brazil have a huge game against Argentina while James Rodriguez and Colombia will be in action against Chile. Unfortunately for Barcelona, Messi will still be out for the El Clasico game because of his leg injury.

There's still a long way to go in this season, but the emergence of Neymar has certainly put himself in the Ballon d'Or conversation. With Messi out and Ronaldo struggling to a certain degree, Brazil could very well be home to the best player in the world once again.

La Liga Standings

1. Barcelona: 9-0-2, 27 points

2. Real Madrid: 7-3-1, 24 points

3. Atletico Madrid: 7-2-2, 23 points

4. Celta Vigo: 6-3-2, 21 points

5. Villarreal: 6-2-3, 20 points

Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter @DamonSalvadore1