Barcelona vs Real Madrid: The La Liga title race has opened up this season

The La Liga 2018-19 season is already into its sixth Match Day and we have already witnessed both Barcelona and Real Madrid start strongly with four wins out of five matches. But something unexpected happened in the mid-week fixtures on Match Day 6- Barcelona sitting in first place after five games, lost to bottom-placed Leganes away from home, while Real Madrid was humiliated by Pablo Machin's Sevilla in a 3-0 loss.

Let's look at the three reasons why the La Liga title will be the best in recent years and will be up for grabs this season:

#1. Ernesto Valverde's Barcelona is focused on the UEFA Champions League primarily:

Yes, Barcelona did win the La Liga and Copa Del Rey double in the 2017-18 season going through an unbeaten run for 36 games in La Liga. Ernesto Valverde did bring a pragmatic approach to the Barcelona attack last season, following the departure of Neymar. In terms of tactics, Dembele the new recruit last season was injured mostly leading to a 4-4-2 formation with Messi and Suarez up front.

This tactic was effective in ensuring composure for the majority of the season, but the thing which stood out was that Barca was lacking in bench strength. This resulted in the core of the team played in almost all the La Liga matches leaving less time to recover for Champions League matches. Barcelona, as a result, were knocked out of Roma in the quarterfinals.

This season, things have changed with Valverde bringing in the likes of Arthur, Malcom and Arturo Vidal to bolster the squad while Andre Gomes, Aleix Vidal, and Paco Alcacer were let go or loaned. As mentioned by Messi himself in his speech before the start of the season, the club's target was to bring the UCL trophy back to the Camp Nou.

Valverde has already started a system of squad rotation with Munir, Malcom, and youngsters getting more time in the starting XI in the not so important matches of La Liga and hence risking the La Liga title for European glory.

Barcelona and Ernesto Valverde are not without reason to do so as well as they have been placed in a tough UCL group, with matches against Inter Milan and Tottenham. And this season, it looks like Valverde will not take any chance and save his best players for the more important Champions league nights.

#2 Real Madrid in Lopetegui's first year can succumb to huge expectations from recent seasons:

This summer was historic for Real Madrid with the club winning the Champions League for the third consecutive time. Cristiano Ronaldo, Madrid's record goalscorer departed this season for Juventus while star coach Zinedine Zidane also left after the Champions League victory.

Last season was far from ideal for Real Madrid in La Liga. The strongest playing XI was still the same from earlier season's but Madrid had a poor start to the season and was inconsistent throughout finishing in third place even behind Atletico.

Although Zidane did mention in interviews that he preferred winning the La Liga as compared to the Champions League, Zidane cleverly rotated his players, with Ronaldo being preferred for Champions League and select La Liga matches. While this sort of system was best for the Champions League with respect to the players being kept fresh for difficult encounters, such tactics do not guarantee consistency.

Real Madrid v AS Roma - UEFA Champions League Group G

New coach, Lopetegui who was sacked as Spain coach on the eve of the World Cup this season has already shown that he insists on giving the youngsters and Castilla players more playing time. While the core of the squad is still the same, repeating the heroics of last season where they defeated PSG, Juve, and Bayern on the way would be a tough task.

Ronaldo has left and there will be a constant pressure on the likes of Benzema and Bale to deliver the goals this season. As we have seen Real Madrid already this season, they lost to Atletico in the UEFA Super Cup and when facing tough competitors, have dropped points against Athletic Club and lost to Sevilla 3-0.

Lopetegui's aim this season would be getting his side to be more consistent and provide a challenge for the La Liga this season and go as deep as they can in a tough Champions League campaign this season.

#3 Atletico Madrid and Sevilla have improved and recovered from rocky starts this season:

In the midst of the Big Two, it is easy to overlook the rest of the contenders. But Diego Simeone's Atletico has been tough and consistent performers in all competitions for the past several seasons. Sevilla, while mostly consistent in the Europa League in earlier seasons have looked threatening under new coach Pablo Machin.

Both Atletico Madrid and Sevilla started their respective seasons in La Liga inconsistently. Atletico, after their big win in the Super Cup, drew with Valencia and Eibar while losing to Celta Vigo. Sevilla, this season has already lost to Betis and Getafe but recovered to defeat Standard Liege 5-1 in the Europa League, continuing their form in La Liga as well defeating Levante 6-2 and Real Madrid 3-0.

Valencia CF v Club Atletico de Madrid - La Liga

Cholo and his men have always found a way back from losses and they have done so under difficult circumstances this season already defeating Monaco away from home in the Champions League and also comprehensively winning against an in-form Getafe and Huesca.

Atletico has much to gain from Barcelona and Real Madrid's losses on Match Day 6 as they moved to 11 points, just 2 points off both of them. With a match against Real Madrid next, Griezmann and company have the perfect opportunity to upset their neighbors and move further up in the table.