With half of the season gone, Barcelona own a five-point
lead at the top of La Liga, boast two strikers with as many goals as
any other team and look on course for their fourth league title in five
years.

 But how good are they? Six league wins on the
bounce has blurred the memory of unrest in September, when problems at
the Camp Nou and Santiago Bernabeu appeared almost on an even keel.

Coach Ernesto Valverde steered his team back
into form while Madrid’s slump plunged deeper, with a change of coach
sparking a brief revival, only for old weaknesses to float back to the
surface.

Real’s troubles have accentuated
Barcelona’s superiority, not only in terms of points, where there is a
10-point difference between the club in the table, but on the pitch too.

Barca’s 5-1 hammering of Real in October came
as a knockout blow for Julen Lopetegui, made even sweeter in Catalonia
that they were the ones to deliver it.

But more generally, every jolt dealt to Real
— by Sevilla, Alaves, Levante, Eibar, Real Sociedad and Villarreal in
the league alone — has made Barca’s progress appear all the more
smooth.

“It is to our advantage but I don’t think too
much about the other teams teams,” Valverde said recently. “I never
discard anyone, not Madrid nor anyone else.”

Hitting their stride

Barca’s 3-0 win last weekend against Eibar was
one of their best of the season and there is a sense now of a team
hitting their stride, when rivals were already struggling to keep pace.

Philippe Coutinho’s absence from Valverde’s starting line-up had become a concern but against Eibar he returned and was superb.

Luis Suarez, who scored twice, is back to his
best. Lionel Messi was quiet, but scored his 400th La Liga goal. Perhaps
most impressive of all, Barca hardly needed him.

Messi
and Suarez now have 31 league goals between them while Barcelona’s goal
difference is twice as good as that of second-placed Atletico Madrid.
The defence, previously creaking, has tightened.

“There was a time when we had to focus on our
defending and see where the problem was,” Valverde said. “We have to
attack well but also give little away.”

Barcelona host Leganes on Sunday and Valverde will know the season is judged in June not January.

Twelve months ago, his team were eight points and three wins better off. Their defence had been sturdier too, by 11 goals.

Despite progress in La Liga and the Copa del
Rey, success in the Champions League remains the priority, even if
Valverde refuses to admit it. His future, and the activation of a
one-year contract extension in the summer, is likely to depend on it.

Sevilla visit Bernabeu

Atletico and Sevilla may not prove consistent
enough in the league but in Europe, in a knock-out phase, Barca’s mettle
will be tested. Valverde’s priorities will also come into sharper focus
as he attempts to juggle three competitions.

“There are those who think that if we lose in
the Copa del Rey we will win the Champions League,” he said before
Thursday’s win over Levante. “But I don’t.”

Their lead over Atletico, who face bottom club
Huesca on Saturday, is unlikely to grow this weekend but at least one
of Real or Sevilla will drop points, as they play each other at the
Bernabeu.

Santiago Solari conceded it was a “weak
performance” that brought defeat by Leganes in the Copa del Rey on
Wednesday, even if Real still progressed on aggregate.

Victory over Sevilla would deliver a boost to
Real’s chances of finishing in the top four but their title hopes are
now miniscule. In Spain again, Barcelona are in charge.

Fixtures (times GMT)

Friday

Getafe v Alaves (2000)

Saturday

Real Madrid v Sevilla (1515), Huesca v Atletico Madrid (1730), Celta Vigo v Valencia (1945)

Sunday

Real Betis v Girona (1100), Villarreal v
Athletic Bilbao (1515), Levante v Real Valladolid, Rayo Vallecano v Real
Sociedad (both 1730), Barcelona v Leganes (1945)

Monday

Eibar v Espanyol (2000)