Titres: La Liga, Barcelona, Deportivo, Luis Suárez, Paulinho
If Real Madrid want to stage a massive comeback in La Liga, the clash between Spain's most popular teams will be crucial.

Barcelona's anticipated win against Deportivo left La Liga in red alert, as next week's Clásico could be the final nail on the coffin of Real Madrid's hopes. Los Blaugranas scored four times against the blue-and-white side, even with Lionel Messi having a day to forget with three shots hitting the posts and one more penalty miss.

Their lead atop of the league stretched to six points, considering that Valencia lost for the second time in three games. Now, Atlético Madrid sit six points behind the league leaders. Meanwhile, Real Madrid is 11 points behind Valverde's men since their match against Leganés got re-scheduled. Have a look at La Liga's standings.

Classmt.ÉquipeJGNPBPBCDiffTBForme
1 Real Madrid 33 26 6 1 71 22 +49 84 GGGGG
2 Barcelona 33 22 7 4 68 39 +29 73 GPGGG
3 Girona 33 22 5 6 69 40 +29 71 GGPGP
4 Atlético Madrid 33 20 4 9 62 39 +23 64 GPGGP
5 Athletic Club 33 16 10 7 53 33 +20 58 PNNPG
6 Real Sociedad 33 13 12 8 46 35 +11 51 PNNGG
7 Real Betis 33 12 13 8 41 39 +2 49 NGGPP
8 Valencia 33 13 8 12 37 38 -1 47 PPGGN
9 Villarreal 33 12 9 12 54 55 -1 45 GGNPG
10 Getafe 33 10 13 10 41 45 -4 43 GNNPG
11 Osasuna 33 11 6 16 37 49 -12 39 PPPGP
12 Deportivo Alavés 33 10 8 15 31 38 -7 38 GGPPP
13 Sevilla 33 9 11 13 42 46 -4 38 NGGGP
14 Las Palmas 33 10 7 16 30 41 -11 37 PPPPP
15 Rayo Vallecano 33 7 13 13 27 42 -15 34 PGNNG
16 Mallorca 33 6 14 13 27 39 -12 32 NPPNG
17 Celta de Vigo 33 7 10 16 37 50 -13 31 PGPNG
18 Cádiz 33 4 14 15 23 46 -23 26 NPPGP
19 Granada 33 4 9 20 36 61 -25 21 GNGPP
20 Almería 33 1 11 21 32 67 -35 14 PPNPG

Ligue des Champions (Phase de poules)
Ligue Europa (Phase de poules)
Promotion - Europa Conference League (Qualification: )
Relegation - LaLiga2

Regarding the league's top scorers' chart Lionel Messi kept his lead intact despite his baffling display at home. Luis Suárez's brace got him to nine goals, but he's still out of the top five spots.

One more Barcelona player made headlines this weekend, and it was none other than Paulinho. As of now, and with the posts as his "partners in crime", the Brazilian leads the goalscoring charts for players in his position. And to think Barça fans doubted him as a good reinforcement for the team's midfield.

La Liga will scatter the rest of their games this week, with Matchday 17 starting on Tuesday and concluding next Saturday, hours after El Clásico is played at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.