Sevilla shook off a heavy defeat to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup and a shock reverse against Braga in the Champions League play-offs to beat promoted Levante 4-1 away.
A double strike from Abdoulay Konko, an Alvaro Negredo penalty and a last-minute goal from Renato helped cancel out a 10th-minute penalty from Levante's Ruben Suarez.
In the day's other game, Spain striker Fernando Llorente headed the only goal as Athletic Bilbao won 1-0 at promoted Hercules.
Sevilla recovered quickly from conceding a penalty at Levante's Ciutat de Valencia stadium, levelling two minutes later when Jesus Navas's shot rebounded into the path of Konko.
Konko finished off a well-worked move in the 62nd and Renato's diving header at the far post completed the scoring.
"This is very important. After everything bad that's gone on this was just what we needed," Negredo told Radio Marca.
"We've only just started, there's still a long way to go but this was the most important step today. We wanted to win to build the confidence," Valencia coach Unai Emery told reporters.
