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 37 29 7 1 87 26 +61 94 DWWWW
2 Barcelona 37 25 7 5 77 43 +34 82 WWWLW
3 Girona 37 24 6 7 78 46 +32 78 WLDWW
4 Atlético Madrid 37 23 4 10 68 43 +25 73 LWWWW
5 Athletic Club 37 18 11 8 60 37 +23 65 WLDWL
6 Real Sociedad 37 16 12 9 51 37 +14 60 WWLWL
7 Real Betis 37 14 14 9 48 45 +3 56 LDWWD
8 Villarreal 37 14 10 13 64 64 0 52 DWWLW
9 Valencia 37 13 9 15 38 43 -5 48 LLDLL
10 Deportivo Alavés 37 12 9 16 35 45 -10 45 WLDWW
11 Osasuna 37 12 8 17 44 55 -11 44 WDDLL
12 Getafe 37 10 13 14 41 52 -11 43 LLLLW
13 Sevilla 37 10 11 16 47 52 -5 41 LLLWD
14 Celta de Vigo 37 10 10 17 44 55 -11 40 WWLWL
15 Las Palmas 37 10 9 18 32 46 -14 39 DDLLL
16 Rayo Vallecano 37 8 14 15 29 47 -18 38 LWDLL
17 Mallorca 37 7 16 14 31 43 -12 37 DDWLD
18 Cádiz 37 6 15 16 25 49 -24 33 DWWLD
19 Granada 37 4 9 24 38 72 -34 21 LLLLW
20 Almería 37 2 12 23 37 74 -37 18 DLLWL

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