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 36 29 6 1 83 22 +61 93 WWWWW
2 Barcelona 36 24 7 5 74 43 +31 79 WWLWL
3 Girona 36 23 6 7 75 45 +30 75 LDWWW
4 Atlético Madrid 36 23 4 9 67 39 +28 73 WWWWL
5 Athletic Club 36 17 11 8 58 37 +21 62 LDWLD
6 Real Sociedad 36 15 12 9 49 37 +12 57 WLWLD
7 Real Betis 36 14 14 8 48 43 +5 56 DWWDW
8 Villarreal 36 14 9 13 60 60 0 51 WWLWW
9 Valencia 36 13 9 14 37 40 -3 48 LDLLL
10 Getafe 36 10 13 13 41 51 -10 43 LLLWD
11 Deportivo Alavés 36 11 9 16 34 45 -11 42 LDWWW
12 Sevilla 36 10 11 15 47 50 -3 41 LLWDW
13 Osasuna 36 11 8 17 40 54 -14 41 DDLLL
14 Las Palmas 36 10 8 18 32 46 -14 38 DLLLL
15 Rayo Vallecano 36 8 14 14 29 44 -15 38 WDLLW
16 Celta de Vigo 36 9 10 17 42 54 -12 37 WLWLW
17 Mallorca 36 7 15 14 29 41 -12 36 DWLDL
18 Cádiz 36 6 14 16 25 49 -24 32 WWLDL
19 Granada 36 4 9 23 37 70 -33 21 LLLWD
20 Almería 36 2 11 23 35 72 -37 17 LLWLL

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