When three teams have close points, of course one team will be out of the race for a while. Real Madrid is currently in third place, but we know that they have a large rotation team and will be one of the candidates for the lead again. In fact, I think I would be very excited to see three teams competing for the championship by the end of the year. I hope it continues like this until the end of the year.
IMO, not only 3 teams but 4 teams in the top 4 positions can become candidates to get the title this season. We see the difference in points from Bilbao and Barcelona only 9 points and that could have happened. But logically it would not be possible Barcelona and Madrid must be defeated by Bilbao who in my opinion the performance is not so good.
The most important thing right now is to focus on Barcelona and Madrid. Because I have a strong feeling that only these two teams will win the title at the end of the season.
Athletic Bilbao will most likely not be able to disrupt the competition for the trophy that has been formed, they appear to be competing for a Champions League spot. In terms of tradition, Barcelona and Real Madrid are clearly the two trophy contenders each season, but now Atletico presence in the competition cannot be underestimated. So far, Atletico has suffered the fewest losses, although on the other hand, they have drawn too many matches. But that indicates that they are much better this season, therefore I think Atletico also has an equal chance of winning the trophy.
The competition between these three teams for the trophy seems to be going to be tight until the end of the season, therefore it is difficult to predict who among them will come out as the winner. It would not be surprising if Real Madrid managed to defend the trophy, nor would it be surprising if Barcelona managed to win it this season, because both teams are used to winning it.