Another week has gone by in La Liga and Barcelona seems to be en route to defend their title properly.
The slow start of the season has not deterred Valverde's men from their goal, and with a brilliant Lionel Messi leading the pack, it's hard to see them not ending the season as the best team in Spain.
This week, Messi's hat-trick stole a number of headlines, especially since he became the most-winning player in Barcelona's history, with his 323 wins surpassing those accomplished by former team-mate Xavi. Furthermore, the Argentine ace scored his 50th goal in 2018, which means that he's repeated that feat in eight of the last nine years.
Lionel Messi now scored...
— SPORF (@Sporf) December 16, 2018
...50+ goals in EIGHT of the last NINE years!
Voted 5th in the Ballon d'Or though.
Insane. pic.twitter.com/3G2OU4Nl5n
Speaking about Barcelona's bitter rivals, Real Madrid earned a hard-fought win against Rayo Vallecano, who made Los Blancos battle for a 1-0 victory. During that game, Karim Benzema managed to silence a few of his critics with the game-winning goal for one interesting reason.
Benzema now has more goals in LaLiga in 18/19 than he bagged in the whole of 17/18. On a mighty six now.
— AS English (@English_AS) December 15, 2018
Pichichi race
Once again, Messi extended his lead as the best striker in the Spanish top flight, with Cristiano Stuani and Luis Suárez a few goals behind.
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La Liga standings after 16 games
At the moment this article is being written, there is only one game left to be played in Matchday 16. How will it change the landscape of the Spanish top flight?
| Поз. | Команда | CM | П | Н | П | Заб | Проп | +/- | П | Форма | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Реал Мадрид | 33 | 26 | 6 | 1 | 71 | 22 | +49 | 84 | ППППП | |
| 2 | Барселона | 32 | 21 | 7 | 4 | 64 | 37 | +27 | 70 | ППППП | |
| 3 | Жирона | 32 | 21 | 5 | 6 | 67 | 40 | +27 | 68 | ППППП | |
| 4 | Атлетико Мадрид | 32 | 19 | 4 | 9 | 59 | 38 | +21 | 61 | ППППП | |
| 5 | Атлетик | 32 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 52 | 30 | +22 | 58 | ННППП | |
| 6 | Реал Сосьедад | 33 | 13 | 12 | 8 | 46 | 35 | +11 | 51 | ПННПП | |
| 7 | Реал Бетис | 32 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 40 | 38 | +2 | 48 | ППППП | |
| 8 | Валенсия | 32 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 35 | 34 | +1 | 47 | ПППНП | |
| 9 | Вильярреал | 32 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 51 | 55 | -4 | 42 | ПНППП | |
| 10 | Хетафе | 32 | 9 | 13 | 10 | 38 | 44 | -6 | 40 | ННППП | |
| 11 | Осасуна | 32 | 11 | 6 | 15 | 37 | 46 | -9 | 39 | ППППП | |
| 12 | Севилья | 32 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 41 | 45 | -4 | 37 | ППППН | |
| 13 | Лас-Пальмас | 32 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 30 | 39 | -9 | 37 | ППППП | |
| 14 | Алавес | 32 | 9 | 8 | 15 | 28 | 38 | -10 | 35 | ППППП | |
| 15 | Райо Вальекано | 32 | 7 | 13 | 12 | 27 | 39 | -12 | 34 | ПННПП | |
| 16 | Мальорка | 32 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 38 | -12 | 31 | ППНПП | |
| 17 | Сельта | 32 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 37 | 47 | -10 | 31 | ППНПП | |
| 18 | Кадис | 32 | 4 | 13 | 15 | 22 | 45 | -23 | 25 | ППППП | |
| 19 | Гранада | 32 | 3 | 9 | 20 | 33 | 61 | -28 | 18 | НПППП | |
| 20 | Альмерия | 32 | 1 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 64 | -33 | 14 | ПНППН |
