Topics: La Liga. Barcelona, Levante, Celta de Vigo, Real Madrid, Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale
Both giants played on Sunday, but Real Madrid's supporters have reason to believe they will not fight to win La Liga this year.

The title race is almost over for Real Madrid, as the current La Liga champions are now 16 points behind Barcelona at the top of the standings. Los Blaugranas' relentless performances have left no doubt about which team has thrived in La Liga, and with their recent additions, things don't seem to be looking as great as they initially did for Real Madrid.

Barcelona resembles a well-oiled machine, with their finest cogs chipping in when it matters the most. For example, Lionel Messi celebrated his 400th La Liga clash with Los Culés, scoring a goal and handing out an assist.

If his performance wasn't enough, Luis Suárez made his presence felt as well.

Speaking about Real Madrid, their woes in La Liga have to do mostly with some of their finest players being injured. Such was Gareth Bale's case, who managed to get back on the scoreboard for Los Blancos, breaking a long streak without a multi-goal game.

"Bale scores his first brace since November 2016. Real Madrid comes from behind!"

Zidane's men haven't shown the drive and intensity they need to win games, as part of their recent success was their ability to win away games. This has also turned into a problem for Los Blancos, as the following stats show.

But not everything was connected to Real Madrid or Barcelona in La Liga. There's a player that's making waves in the competition, and he's only played twice this year: Diego Costa. The Brazilian-born striker has caught the eyes of the fans with his reckless behavior and his goalscoring skills. Not bad for a guy who spent six months without playing time!

Here's how La Liga's standings look like after 18 games for each side.
Pos.TeamMPWDLGFGAGDPForm
1 Real Madrid 32 25 6 1 70 22 +48 81 WWWWW
2 Barcelona 32 21 7 4 64 37 +27 70 LWWWW
3 Girona 32 21 5 6 67 40 +27 68 WLWLW
4 Atlético Madrid 32 19 4 9 59 38 +21 61 LWWLL
5 Athletic Club 32 16 10 6 52 30 +22 58 DDLWW
6 Real Sociedad 32 13 12 7 46 34 +12 51 DDWWW
7 Real Betis 32 12 12 8 40 38 +2 48 WWLLL
8 Valencia 32 13 8 11 35 34 +1 47 LWWDL
9 Villarreal 32 11 9 12 51 55 -4 42 WDLWW
10 Getafe 32 9 13 10 38 44 -6 40 DDLWL
11 Osasuna 32 11 6 15 37 46 -9 39 LLWLL
12 Sevilla 32 9 10 13 41 45 -4 37 WWWLD
13 Las Palmas 32 10 7 15 30 39 -9 37 LLLLL
14 Deportivo Alavés 32 9 8 15 28 38 -10 35 WLLLW
15 Rayo Vallecano 32 7 13 12 27 39 -12 34 WDDWL
16 Mallorca 32 6 13 13 26 38 -12 31 LLDWL
17 Celta de Vigo 32 7 10 15 37 47 -10 31 WLDWL
18 Cádiz 32 4 13 15 22 45 -23 25 LLWLW
19 Granada 32 3 9 20 33 61 -28 18 DWLLL
20 Almería 32 1 11 20 31 64 -33 14 LDLWD

Champions League (Group Stage)
Europa League (Group Stage)
Promotion - Europa Conference League (Qualification: )
Relegation - LaLiga2