Marcelino’s team are just five points behind leaders FC Barcelona, but have a game in hand.
The 2025/26 LALIGA EA SPORTS title race has really started to take shape over the past few weeks. The usual suspects are fighting near the top, with FC Barcelona first on 40 points and Real Madrid second on 36 points, but there is also a surprise contender in the form of Villarreal CF. Click this link https://a.meridianbet.ke/c/C7pYjz to start gaming and stand a chance of winning big with Meridianbet.
El Submarino Amarillo sit in third place on 35 points, but they’ve played one match fewer than the top two. If Marcelino’s side were to win that game in hand, they’d have 38 points and that would currently put them ahead of Real Madrid and just two points off Barça. It really does promise to be a thrilling title race, so let’s take a look at the situations of each of the top three.
FC Barcelona: 1st place on 40 points
After winning the championship last season, Hansi Flick’s men are looking to retain the LALIGA EA SPORTS trophy in 2025/26. After they lost ELCLASICO to Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, falling five points behind their city rivals, it looked like that would be a difficult challenge. However, Barça have since won six league games in a row, overcoming Elche CF, RC Celta, Athletic Club, Deportivo Alavés, Atlético de Madrid and Real Betis. Their return to the Spotify Camp Nou has helped, as they’ve won all three matches there so far since their homecoming, while the road form has been strong too.
The usual suspects in attack, such as Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski, have all been impressing, but the X-factor might be Ferran Torres. The man from Valencia has scored 11 league goals now this season, putting him second in the Pichichi Trophy rankings, only behind Kylian Mbappé. If he can continue his scoring run, then FC Barcelona have an excellent chance of winning back-to-back league titles for the first time since 2017/18 and 2018/19.
Real Madrid: 2nd place on 36 points
If FC Barcelona have been on a hot streak since ELCLASICO, then Real Madrid have been experiencing the polar opposite. Since defeating their rivals 2-1 at home at the end of October, Los Blancos have won just two out of six league matches. This has in large part been due to an extended run of away games, as Xabi Alonso’s side were held to draws away at Rayo Vallecano, Elche CF and Girona FC across Matchdays 12, 13 and 14. But, they also suffered a defeat on their return to the Bernabéu last matchday, losing to RC Celta 2-0.
All of those dropped points have added up. Real Madrid now find themselves four points behind FC Barcelona, an incredible turnaround considering they were five points ahead when the full-time whistle sounded at the end of ELCLASICO. They’ll need to get back to winning ways quickly.
Villarreal CF: 3rd place on 35 points (game in hand)
Villarreal CF are the surprise contenders in this year’s title race, but it’s worth keeping in mind that they’ve been here before. In the 2007/08 season, El Submarino Amarillo finished in second place in LALIGA EA SPORTS. This year, though, they’re racking up points like never before, as they’ve never had as many as 35 points after 15 rounds of a top-flight league campaign.
It’s a credit to the culture Marcelino has built at the Estadio de la Cerámica and to the recruitment that has taken place. Villarreal CF have had to continually retool and readjust their squad, and several of their new arrivals are standing out. In fact, their top four scorers across all competitions are players who were signed or re-signed in the summer, namely Alberto Moleiro, Taion Buchanan, Tani Oluwaseyi and Georges Mikautadze. If they win their game in hand, in Matchday 19, they really could be a challenger to the traditional top two.
