La Liga Week 3 Schedule, Fixtures & Stream: Lionel Messi, Barcelona Take on Atlético Madrid for First Place

By Damon Salvadore First Posted: Sep 11, 2015 01:16 PM EDT

With last week dominated by international soccer, La Liga play is back. We're only in the third week of this season, so no team has stood out above the rest by a wide margin just yet.

Barcelona, last year's champions, have raced out to a quick 2-0 record to start their season. Although Barcelona's offense doesn't exactly resemble it's full capability, their defense has been perfect. Barcelona has won both of their games by a score of 1-0, with Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo earning back-to-back clean sheets.

Barcelona will get their first true test of the season in Game 3. This weekend they will take on Atlético Madrid on the road. Atlético Madrid is also 2-0, and they are just two seasons out from a La Liga championship. Also like Barcelona, Atlético Madrid has not allowed a single goal this season, achieving a 3-0 win over Sevilla and a 1-0 victory over Las Palmas. There's no doubt about it: This is the "game of the week" for Week 3.

Atlético Madrid's star forward Antoine Griezmann leads La Liga in assists after the first two weeks.

Real Madrid will take on Espanyol this weekend, but they won't be at full strength. Colombian superstar James Rodríguez has a torn muscle in his leg, and he will not return until an undisclosed time in October. This is a huge blow for Real Madrid, not only because of Rodríguez's greatness, but because he is the centerpiece of that team. Last season Rodríguez went down with an injury in the middle of the year, and Real Madrid went through a huge scoring slump.

Now is the time for Ronaldo to break out of his own scoring slump and show why he is the best goal scorer in the world. Last week Real Madrid thrashed Real Betis at home, but this game will be played on the road.

Incredibly, neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo have scored a single goal yet this season. Expect that to change very soon.

Eibar and Celta Vigo are two other undefeated teams that will be playing this weekend. Eibar will take on Málaga on Sunday, while Celta Vigo plays Las Palmas that same day.

Week 3 Schedule