La Liga Week 16 Standings: Lionel Messi, Barcelona Gain Ground against Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid

By Damon Salvadore First Posted: Dec 24, 2014 10:13 AM EST

Week 16 of the La Liga season is complete.

One of the favorites to win the Spanish League title this year, Barcelona, experienced a great week. Barcelona defeated Córdoba, 5-0, to improve their overall record to 12-2-2 giving them 38 points.

In that game, against Córdoba, Luis Suárez scored, and Lionel Messi found the net twice, one of which came in extra time.

Messi has an outstanding 15 goals this season, which ranks second in the league only behind Cristiano Ronaldo who has an amazing 25 goals of his own. Brazilian striker Neymar has 11 goals himself providing a lot of balance on offense for this squad.

Barcelona can't match the overall scoring output of Real Madrid, but their defense ranks among the greatest of all-time. So far this season Barcelona has allowed just seven goals in their 16 games. The next fewest allowed is 13 by Real Madrid and Valencia. Chilean Goalkeeper Claudio Bravo has been by far the best netminder this season.

Although Barcelona lost to their arch rivals Real Madrid in Week 9, they will have a chance to beat them in Week 28 on March 23.

Barcelona will face Real Sociedad in their next game.

Real Madrid did not compete this week because of an interruption with the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Their scheduled match against Sevilla has been moved to Feb. 4. Despite not even playing, Real Madrid still holds the top spot with 13 victories, giving them 39 points. Ronaldo is the favorite to win the Ballon d'Or award this season.

Ronaldo's 25 goals lead the league by a wide margin, and he will certainly challenge Messi's 2011 scoring record of 50 goals in a season. So far this year Real Madrid has scored a breathtaking 55 goals, 14 more than Barcelona, who has the second most in the league. Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas has been fantastic this season as well.

Real Madrid will play Valencia in their next game.

It was a bounce back week for Atletico Madrid.

The defending champions defeated Athletic Bilbao, 4-1. With that win, Atletico Madrid improved their overall record to 11-2-3 on the season. The timing of this win couldn't come at a better time because Atletico Madrid suffered a very disappointing 1-0 defeat to Villarreal last week at home.

They're still four points behind Real Madrid for first place, but Atletico Madrid did beat them head-to-head in Week 3. You can never count Atletico Madrid out, especially with 22 weeks left to play.

Mario Mandzukic and Antoine Griezmann each have six goals this season. Atletico Madrid doesn't have the single greatest player or lead the league in many statistics, but they are a very balanced squad. Goalkeeper Miguel Moya has allowed just 14 goals in his 16 starts so far.

Atletico Madrid's next game will be against Levante.

There's still plenty of time remaining in the 2014-15 La Liga season, but each and every week is becoming more and more critical. With no playoff system in place, it means just one team will be crowned champion at the end of the season.