Over the past two months, Barcelona's mid-season slump has seen Real Madrid rise to the top of LaLiga.
Since mid-November, there has been a dramatic shift in power in the race for the LaLiga championship: where Barcelona once controlled the title, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid are now the frontrunners.
Real Madrid goes top with victory over Las Palmas
After beating Las Palmas on Sunday, Madrid have established themselves as leaders of the Spanish top flight. It is the first time this season that Carlo Ancelotti's men have topped the table without title rivals having games in hand. (Madrid was also in first place for a period earlier this month, but had played one more match than city rival Atlético).
Barcelona let the healthy LaLiga lead slip away
But just eight games ago, before matchday 13 on the weekend of November 9/10, Barça were six points ahead of Madrid and ten ahead of Atlético.
However, since the defeat against Real Sociedad, the Catalans have found themselves in free fall in LaLiga. Hansi Flick's men have taken just six points in their last eight league games – a run that has seen just one win, against Real Mallorca on December 3, and four defeats. The mid-season slump has seen Barca drop from first place to their current third position. If Villarreal or Mallorca win today, the Blaugrana will be closer to the Europa League places than first place.
Both Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid have benefited from Barca's poor LaLiga form. Over the past eight matchdays, Madrid have collected nineteen LaLiga points (six wins, a draw and a defeat) to turn a six-point deficit into a seven-point lead over their arch-rivals.
Atlético, meanwhile, has a five-point lead over Flick's men, thanks to a 21-point lead (seven wins and one defeat). In addition, Barça is now level with Athletic Club, after being fourteen points ahead of the Basques eight games ago.
Barça is currently in relegation form
If the LaLiga table only took into account the last eight matchdays of the season, Barça would be in the relegation zone. They achieved the second fewest points together with Real Betis in that period. Only Osasuna, who scored five points, performed worse.
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