I believe that the strong and consistent defense is a big factor for Barcelona these days. Not only form themselves during the games, but it also demoralizes Real Madrid because they know that every game a lot of rather unexpected events must happen in order for Barcelona to drop some points. They did not concede any goals in 14 out of 19 games. Of course they can have a weak phase due to injuries or exhaustion, but often times five points advantage can be a lot when they keep performing on that level and Real Madrid is dropping points even only sporadically. For now Barcelona looks like they might make it close to the magical 100 points mark.
Barcelona's game level has improved from a worrying start to the season, they are slowly getting to their best game and so far Barcelona is unbeaten in the ten matches they have played in all competitions. The only thing they are worried about is injury or fatigue to the players, because this will have an impact on the games they will play, while they have to maintain a five point difference until the season ends.
Five points will be the difference between the two teams, but because there are still so many matches left, Real Madrid's chances of continuing to be in the title race are still quite open, if they are able to maintain consistency in the next game.
another match, Villarreal vs Elche. and surprisingly Elche gets 1 goal in the early minutes. this surprised Villarreal. but everything was responded well by Villarreal by making attacks that were so dominating. finally, it didn't take long for Moreno to equalize at 1-1. after this, I believe Villarreal will get more chances to get additional goals.
Two goals from Pere Milla put Elche ahead temporarily until the first half ended, Villareal must be aware of the surprises that Elche will give in the second half, if they don't want to drop points in this game. Although Villarreal dominated the match, it was Pere Milla's penalty that forced them to work hard to equalize in the second half.
If Villarreal loses to the bottom bottom team, then their current position in fifth standing will be threatened to be taken over by Real Betis, because at the moment their point difference is the same, but Real Betis haven't played their 20th match yet.
I agree and the five points difference doesn't look like much at first glance and yes, it can still be made up by Real Madrid. Now I believe that both teams will quite constantly deliver positive results throughout the season and this is why I can imagine that the game between Real Madrid and Barcelona (in Barcelona) on March 19th could be a little preliminary decision if things don't change much until then. It is definitely going to be a highlight again between two very strong teams. I kind of missed that the last couple of years as both teams struggled a bit and didn't play at the level they once used to play at.
Another important point that I really find worth mentioning here is that Barcelona this season has the youngest squad in over two decades (perhaps ever, I just checked for 20 years). So it seems as if Barcelona is successfully getting back on track and will be able to build something new now. Next season they will certainly be a top address again for superstars when they are qualified for the CL again and have a promising team already.
At times it really looked as if Barcelona might completely be crashing to the ground (also because of their financial problems).
I am also asking myself what the future of Atletico will look like. I like Simeone for his consistency, but now I am not so sure anymore whether this constellation still holds a positive future. Maybe they really need to change something in the near future.
