Real Madrid are closer to relegation than they are to Barcelona Barcelona Gap between teams is 19 points

It seems as though the good times at Real Madrid have come to a halt, and with Barcelona winning against Real Sociedad on Sunday, Los Blancos are now closer to relegation than they are to their fiercest rivals in the LaLiga table.

As a consequence of Sunday's contrasting results, the gap between the two teams is now 19 points.

Zinedine Zidane's players no longer loo like mounting a credible title challenge, but rather ways to stay in the top four.

With the first round of matches now complete, the feeling within the Los Blancos camp couldn't be any worse.

They have lost four league matches and have had five draws, and have recorded seven fewer victories than the Blaugrana.

Of course it must be remembered that the defending champions have a game in hand to play against Leganes, although they have shown worrying signs of weakness in recent matches.

It's often said that where Real Madrid are concerned you can never rule anything out, however with Valencia and Atletico Madrid both ahead of them, it's incredibly unrealistic to think they will put together a run to get them anywhere close to the top.

The reality is that their battle is now with Sevilla and Villarreal to secure a Champions League spot for the 2018/19 season.

Villarreal are only a point behind Real whilst the Andalusian side are three adrift.