Although the official line from Barcelona is that the LaLiga Santander title remains a pipe dream, after their stunning El Clasico triumph that dream no longer seems out of the question.
The fact is that Real Madrid currently hold a 12-point lead over Barcelona, which the Blaugrana could reduce to nine if they win their game in hand over Rayo Vallecano.
However, Barcelona look to be a team that will drop very few points from now to the end of the campaign.
It all depends on how Real Madrid perform in their upcoming fixtures and if they will bounce back. For them to concede the title at this point would mean losing three matches, which is as many as they have lost throughout the LaLiga Santander season so far.
Barcelona, meanwhile, would have no margin for error, as they look to continue putting on pressure on Real Madrid.
Barcelona’s improvement under Xavi
Xavi Hernandez‘s impact was made clear on Sunday night, as the team’s morale is sky-high and they have a squad that is capable of being competitive until the end of the season.
Another factor that could be in Barcelona‘s favour is that Real Madrid could be distracted by their Champions League campaign.
The end-of-season fixture lists
If we take a look at the respective fixture lists of each side, we see that they both have tough matches in which they could drop points and both sides still have to play Sevilla and Real Betis.
Barcelona’s remaining fixtures:
Barcelona-Sevilla
Levante-Barcelona
Barcelona-Cadiz
Real Sociedad-Barcelona
Barcelona-Rayo Vallecano
Barcelona-Mallorca
Real Betis-Barcelona
Barcelona-Celta Vigo
Getafe-Barcelona
Barcelona-Villarreal
Real Madrid’s remaining fixtures:
Celta Vigo-Real Madrid
Real Madrid-Getafe
Sevilla-Real Madrid
Osasuna-Real Madrid
Real Madrid-Espanyol
Atletico Madrid-Real Madrid
Real Madrid-Levante
Cadiz-Real Madrid
Real Madrid-Real Betis
Marca
