I agree with Ahli38 that Real Madrid has chances to catch up with Barça, and disagree with swogerino because there is no need of 3 consecutive loses at all (which is highly unlikely): every draw for Barcelona, if Madrid wins, cuts the difference in 2 points. In 16 matchdays (the ones remaining) chances are that they manage to do it. In fact, a few months ago the situation was the opposite, and look how easily Barcelona has managed to overtake Madrid.
If there weren't a personal meeting ahead where Real Madrid has an iron opportunity to score three points at the same time and deprive Barcelona of three points, thus reducing the gap to 5 points, I would consider that the championship is already over. Teams that are at the top of the standings rarely lose points, so 8 points difference is a huge distance.