I can't even say if madrid is stronger than barcelona at this moment. We have not yet seen the el classico. Barcelona might be below the real madrid but if we are also seeing from the result of pre season if barcelona could fully dominating real madrid.
La Liga 2023 - 2024 only goes through its first three match days and it is very soon to say what teams are stronger than others. Real Madrid got three points and had a perfect start but Barcelona only have 2 points less than Real Madrid.
We don't need a result of El Classico to say what team are stronger and to win La Liga, the winner does not need to win one or both El Classico matches but they must win as many other matches as possible and complete the season with as highest total point as possible.
I could make an excuse if bellingham was not fully adapting to the club but we must wait till that time is gonna come soon. Madrid was always performing so badly since last season against barcelona.
Barcelona has been also strengthening its club through buying some great players from the winner of UCL last season. Joao cancelo already expected to join in barcelona to strengthen its defensive line. This is a serious threat for real madrid.
I must be honest if a real madrid is not strong enough at this moment even though it has skilled players like bellingham. Madrid needs to beat barcelona first.
The weirdest thing if sometime real madrid able performs better in UCL compared with barcelona.
Both clubs have some good young players, Yamal in Barcelona and Jude Bellingham in Real Madrid. They are playing so impressively in first three matches for their clubs but not sure they will continue their performances in rest of 2023 - 2024 season. Their appearances in La Liga and excellent performances so far are contributing to make La Liga more attractive after departures of two biggest stars in the two decades, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.