Whether we realize it or not, Madrid is actually on the verge of instability after several important players were injured, but this can still be covered because Madrid has high-level players. Luckily several players were absent right after the UCL break. So he has time to improve, while in La Liga his current position is still safe because his rivals are not in a threatening condition due to being busy dealing with increasingly deteriorating finances. However, instead another competitor comes from Girona, who is still in 2nd place in the standings with a point difference that is not too far away. Another conclusion is that Madrid was saved right when the transfer window opened and they have everything to immediately upgrade the depth of the squad.
Talking about rival, I currently don't see Barcelona as Real Madrid's rival this season, so far they have been able to stay far to the top beyond Barcelona such that it will take Barcelona some good number of wins to be able to meet up with them and I don't think Barcelona Is in such a form that at this point they will be able cover up for the distance already.
Gzkron is more like a threat to Madrid in my analysis, reason been that, Girona seem to be using a very good tactics of winning the weak team to maintaining their top position and drawing the bigger teams to keep balance at the top so it very possible Girona will win their fixtures against all these small teams and later struggle to draw against the bigger rivals , Barcelona and Real Madrid, that way they will be able to attain and maintain some good balance around the top and utilize any chance they see to becoming the champions at the end of the season.