Konula: 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.
Poz.TakımOMGBMAGYGAverajPForm
1 Real Madrid 33 26 6 1 71 22 +49 84 GGGGG
2 Barcelona 33 22 7 4 68 39 +29 73 GMGGG
3 Girona 33 22 5 6 69 40 +29 71 GGMGM
4 Atlético Madrid 33 20 4 9 62 39 +23 64 GMGGM
5 Athletic Club 34 17 10 7 55 33 +22 61 GMBBM
6 Real Sociedad 33 13 12 8 46 35 +11 51 MBBGG
7 Real Betis 33 12 13 8 41 39 +2 49 BGGMM
8 Valencia 33 13 8 12 37 38 -1 47 MMGGB
9 Villarreal 33 12 9 12 54 55 -1 45 GGBMG
10 Getafe 34 10 13 11 41 47 -6 43 MGBBM
11 Osasuna 33 11 6 16 37 49 -12 39 MMMGM
12 Deportivo Alavés 33 10 8 15 31 38 -7 38 GGMMM
13 Sevilla 33 9 11 13 42 46 -4 38 BGGGM
14 Las Palmas 33 10 7 16 30 41 -11 37 MMMMM
15 Rayo Vallecano 33 7 13 13 27 42 -15 34 MGBBG
16 Mallorca 33 6 14 13 27 39 -12 32 BMMBG
17 Celta de Vigo 33 7 10 16 37 50 -13 31 MGMBG
18 Cádiz 33 4 14 15 23 46 -23 26 BMMGM
19 Granada 33 4 9 20 36 61 -25 21 GBGMM
20 Almería 33 1 11 21 32 67 -35 14 MMBMG

Şampiyonlar Ligi (Grup Aşaması)
Avrupa Ligi (Grup Aşaması)
Promotion - Europa Conference League (Qualification: )
Relegation - LaLiga2