Yeah you are right Barcelona was seen as the strongest team in the beginning of this season, they played very well but they lost a little bit form however I still believe they can still make it to the top if that opportunity comes out for them because they are still playing very well and they are winning matches, they have good players and they are doing very well, they only need to remain consistent like they are right now if they do then they will have the chance of reaching the top in the table, however Atletico Madrid and real Madrid won't make it easy for them especially real Madrid they will make sure they carry the title, they have good players, there problem before was because mbappe was still strongly to adapt with the team but right now he has done that and they are playing very well now, but I still don't know why real Madrid is finding it difficult to win Barcelona when ever they meet, for me Barcelona is more inform than real Madrid this season the only problem with Barcelona is they are not consistent they don't take some match serious they are too confident and that is the reason why they are in 3rd place in the table right now.
Each team will play 17 more matches. So I would say that Barcelona still has a chance to grab the top spot in the table. But for this, Barcelona must win consistently. At the same time, Madrid will also have to lose points in a few matches. Since Madrid's performance is quite stable, it will be very difficult for Barcelona to regain the top spot in the table.
However, the Barcelona team is still quite strong. Raphinha, Yamal and Lewa in the attack are in great form. So it may be possible for Barcelona to continue their good performance. But I am not sure whether Madrid will lose points. Real Madrid is ahead by a large margin of 7 points.