LaLiga title race tightens as Barcelona, Atletico and Real Madrid separated by three points

The ball that Kylian Mbappe buried in the net with less than five minutes to go didn't just hand Real Madrid the win in the Clasico. It also breathed new life into a title fight that seemed to have gone quiet. With that victory over Barcelona, Los Blancos closed the gap on the leader and made it clear this race is going to run all the way to the wire.

To grasp the scale of the challenge, it helps to look back for a moment. Last season Barcelona won the league with 94 points, while Real Madrid finished second with 86. Those are lofty numbers that leave little room for error. This time around, after 10 matchdays, the standings are far tighter: Barcelona leads with 27 points, Atletico Madrid follows with 25, and Real Madrid rounds out the podium with 24, just three points off the top.

A Barcelona side fighting through injuries

Hansi Flick's team sits at the top, but not without headaches: injuries have hit the defense hard, and the coach has had to call up academy players to fill out the squad. Even so, the schedule shows no mercy. Barcelona hosts Alaves on October 31, travels to face Aston Villa in the Champions League on November 3, and just five days later takes on none other than Atletico Madrid in a direct battle for first place. After that come Villarreal, Sabah FK in the Champions League, Deportivo La Coruna, Celta, Manchester City, Malaga, and, to close out December, Real Sociedad.

Atletico riding a hot streak

Diego Simeone enters this stretch with a strong case to make: six straight wins in LaLiga. The next test comes on the road against Levante, before hosting Bayern Munich in the Champions League and, just a few days later, that aforementioned direct showdown with Barcelona. In between there's also Getafe, Viking FK, Elche, Betis, PSV, Valencia and Celta, in a jam-packed December.

The schedule itself makes clear why that November 8 match carries so much weight: Simeone knows that winning it would mean closing the gap on the leader even further, something the source material sums up well in noting that Atletico "will look for another result away to Levante to avoid falling further behind the leader."

Real Madrid, riding the momentum of the Clasico

For Real Madrid, the Clasico win could be exactly the boost needed to keep title hopes alive. The road ahead includes Racing de Santander, AEK in the Champions League, Valencia, Celta at home, PSV and Alaves before November is out. December brings Athletic Bilbao, Arsenal in the Champions League, Osasuna and, to close out the month, a trip to Deportivo La Coruna.

With three teams bunched so closely together in the standings and direct clashes already penciled into the calendar, the rest of the year promises matches that could go a long way toward deciding the title race.