Granada, back in the top flight after a two year absence, sat first with six wins and the same number of defeats as FC Barcelona.
At the heart of their expectation-defying ascent, in the engine room, is a player who is an equally unlikely hero.
Venezuela isn’t known for producing elite level midfielders, and after a difficult first season in LaLiga on loan from Man City at relegation fodder Huesca, it would have been easy to overlook Yangel Herrera.
When City sent him out to another newly promoted team in the summer, the challenge was to not become the latest in a long line of players accumulated by big English clubs then forgotten about elsewhere.
Instead, Herrera has risen to the challenge and shone. When he joined Granada, he had the tough task of breaking into a core group that had already bonded through a heroic promotion campaign then was kept in tact in LaLiga by coach Diego Martínez. Fitness problems in pre-season made the challenge even greater for the newcomer.