Barcelona have dropped points in their last two La Liga matches. Barcelona have lost against Real Sociedad. Barcelona have also failed to win against Celta Vigo. So if Barcelona want to retain the top spot in the table now, they will have to win their upcoming matches. If Barcelona lose any points in any match, Barcelona will probably lose the top spot in the table.
In the next few matches, Barcelona will play against Las Palmas, Mallorca, Real Betis and Leganes, all three teams are relatively weak. If Barcelona's performance is stable, Barcelona has the ability to earn full points in every match.
If we forget Valencia skip game for Real Madrid and Barcelona fail to win their next match, if Real Madrid should win their own, they will be 1 point away from Real Madrid, that means there is going to be war in the upcoming matches. I don't care about the situation of Real Madrid, those guys are very good in surprises they can bounce back to their performance and you will see them sitting on top of the table miraculously just like how they used to do it in the past.
Rodrigo seems to be coming back soon, I'm not sure his X post was a tease but he seems to be giving sign of coming back from injury. If he comes back and some bench players are put in good use, Real Madrid can still form a ballistic squad to win any match they have pending till when other people will come back from their injuries. At least Courtois is back, he will save them the stress and embarrassment Lunin has made since his absence.
I still believe that Real Madrid has the strongest squad in La Liga this season. However, Real Madrid is not finding their best form. Especially because of Mbappe's inconsistent performance, Real Madrid is not able to perform consistently well.
Real Madrid is not getting better performances from Mbappe and Bellingham. And this is why Madrid's performance is a bit erratic. Real Madrid has performed very badly in the Champions League. However, after the inconsistent performance, Real Madrid has a great chance of occupying the top spot of the La Liga table. Because Barcelona's performance has also dropped. Real Madrid has to make good use of this opportunity. And the winning streak has to continue. Only if they are able to continue the winning streak, it will be possible for Madrid to occupy the top spot of La Liga.