La Liga Week 13 Standings & Schedule: Real Madrid in First Place for Spanish League Title, Barcelona Closing in

By Damon Salvadore First Posted: Nov 26, 2014 12:02 PM EST

Week 12 of the 2014-15 La Liga season is complete, and for the third consecutive week, Real Madrid is on top of the standings.

Real Madrid has won their last nine consecutive games. In their last match, they defeated SD Eibar on the road, 4-1. Fan favorite Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals in that game, and 23-year-old Colombian James Rodriguez found the net as well.

Real Madrid has allowed just one goal in their last three games.

With that convincing victory, Real Madrid improved their overall record to 10-0-2, giving them 30 points. Real Madrid has had an incredible offense this season with a league-high 46 goals scored, 16 more than any other team. On the defensive side, Real Madrid has allowed just 11 goals against thanks to goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Ronaldo has a league-leading 20 goals this season, and Toni Kroos leads the team in assists with six. This offense appears to be unstoppable, especially with Javier Hernández, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale. This offense is on pace to break the 2011-12 Barcelona squad scoring record of 121 goals in a single season.

Real Madrid will face sixth-place Malaga CF in their next game on Saturday, Nov. 29 in Malaga, Spain.

What a week it was for Barcelona's own Lionel Messi, who surpassed Telmo Zarra for most career goals in La Liga history. Messi now has 253 goals in a Barcelona uniform, 10 of which have come this season.

After starting the season off unbeaten, Barcelona hit a wall in Week 9, losing back-to-back games against Real Madrid and Celta Vigo. Fortunately for Barcelona fans, their team has won the last two games, against Almeria and Sevilla. In their dominating 5-1 win against Sevilla, Messi recorded a hat trick.

Barcelona will have a chance to avenge their loss against Real Madrid in Week 28 at home.

Messi and Neymar have created a balanced offense, but Barcelona's defense has been the best in the league this season. Barcelona has allowed just six goals this entire season, including not allowing a single goal in the first eight games. Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo has been playing fantastic this season, and he is the favorite to win the Ricardo Zamora Trophy. With their latest win against Sevilla, Barcelona is now 9-1-2 giving them 28 points. Soccer's greatest rivalry, the El Clasico, can't get here soon enough.

Last year's champions, Atletico Madrid, currently sit in third place. Thanks to Uruguayan-born Diego Godin, Atletico Madrid escaped with a victory against Malaga in their last game to improve to 8-2-2. Mario Mandzukic has been the best goal scorer for Atletico Madrid this season, but defense has been an ongoing issue.