Barça lead Atleti by 2 points at the top

Two points. That is all that separates Barça from Atleti after 10 rounds of LaLiga, and the table reads less like a procession than it did a month ago.

Barça sit 1 with 27 points, built on 9 wins and no draws at all. 40 goals scored, 11 conceded, a goal difference of 29. The one defeat came last time out, and it is the only blemish on a run of WWWW before that.

Atleti are 2 on 25, with 8 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. Their form line is five straight wins — 6W going back further — and nobody in the division is currently matching it. What they lack is volume: 20 goals against 8 conceded gives a goal difference of 12, seventeen short of the leaders.

So the chase is real, but it is being run on defence rather than demolition. Atleti have conceded 8 in 10 matches; Barça have let in 11. Over a season, that difference tends to decide things.

Behind them, Real Madrid wait on 24 points in 3, with a goal difference of +15 that is better than the team directly above them. Real Betis have 20, Real Sociedad 19, and Sevilla FC sit 6 on 17.

At the other end of the scoring charts, Raphinha leads with 13 for Barça, ahead of Kylian Mbappé on 11 for Real Madrid. Yassir Zabiri and Lamine Yamal are level on 8.

Two points with most of the campaign left. Would you back the team that scores for fun, or the one that has forgotten how to lose?