Madrid have reduced the gap to Barça by 11 points after the 4-0 defeat in the Bernabéu Clásico.
On 26 October, Real Madrid's prospects in the league looked bleak after a serious setback in the Clásico at the Santiago Bernabéu: a crushing 4–0 defeat left the Blaugrana six points ahead of Los Blancos.
To make matters worse, Barcelona had all but secured the head-to-head goal difference, meaning Madrid needed an extraordinary performance at Montjuïc to turn things around. Expectations weighed heavily on Ancelotti's team this season. Mbappe's arrival had led many to believe that the domestic championship would be a cakewalk for them, but reality proved otherwise.
The next day brought further complications, albeit with an unusual and tragic turn of events. A devastating DANA storm on the east coast of Spain forced the postponement of Valencia vs. Madrid, while Barcelona secured a 3-1 win over Espanyol in the derby.
Despite showing significant defensive vulnerabilities, Barça was saved by narrow offsides against Espanyol's attackers. By the end of Matchday 12, Barça had a commanding nine-point lead over Madrid in the LaLiga standings. However, what followed over the next seven matchdays was nothing short of a dramatic turnaround.
Madrid and Barça are enjoying contrasting fortunes
Since then, Real Madrid and Barça have played seven matches, although only six were on the league schedule. This discrepancy arises because both teams, who participated in the Spanish Super Cup in January 2025, had reached their matches in the 19th round.
In these early matches, the Catalans came out on top with a 5-1 win over Mallorca, while Madrid suffered a 2-1 defeat at San Mamés. However, the broader analysis of these seven matches reveals a stark contrast in performance: Ancelotti's team collected 16 points out of a possible 21, while Flick's Barça managed just 5.
The decline under Flick is striking. Initially praised for reviving Barca, the German coach now faces harsh comparisons with the past two seasons under Xavi where he fell short. Xavi's Barça achieved 50 points in the first half of the 2022-2023 season and 41 in 2023-2024; By comparison, Flick only achieved 38.
Madrid's dominance during this stretch is undisputed. They won five games, drew one (against Rayo Vallecano) and lost another (against Athletic Bilbao). They scored 20 goals (almost three per game) and conceded just seven across three games: three goals against Rayo, two against Bilbao and two against Sevilla at the Bernabéu.
Barcelona's poor recent form
They kept a clean sheet in the other four games. Barça's form, on the other hand, is terrible: only one win, two draws and four losses, without clean sheets. They scored eleven goals – almost half in their win against Mallorca – but also conceded eleven.
During this period, Madrid's 16-point lead has dwarfed Barca's 5-point gain, allowing Los Blancos to overturn an 11-point deficit and move two points clear of the Catalans in the standings. Moreover, Madrid have one more match in hand: their rescheduled clash with Valencia on January 3. A win in that match would equal Barça's previous result (a 3–1 win over Espanyol) and extend Madrid's lead to five points.
The only team that can surpass Madrid at the moment is Atlético Madrid. On Matchday 11, as Barça triumphed in the Clásico, Simeone's side suffered a 1–0 defeat to Real Betis at Benito Villamarín, leaving them 10 points behind the leaders and outside the top three, with Villarreal in third place.
Since then, however, Atlético has been flawless, recording seven straight league wins, scoring 17 goals and conceding just five. This remarkable run has taken them to the top of the table, one point ahead of Madrid, with the same number of games played.
The title race is now wide open, with four teams – Madrid, Atlético, Barcelona and Athletic Club – separated by just five points. Athletic, currently fourth with 36 points, have claimed 17 of the last 21 points available. What seemed inevitable at the end of October is no longer true. Barça has crumbled, while Madrid and Atlético have leapt forward, reigniting the battle for the championship.
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