La Liga Week 20 Standings: Lionel Messi, Neymar Each Score Two Goals In Barcelona Win, Real Madrid Still in First Place

By Damon Salvadore First Posted: Jan 26, 2015 05:20 PM EST

What a run Lionel Messi has been on.

Barcelona benefited once again from the 27-year-old Argentinian striker. In their latest game, Barcelona dominated Elche on the road, 6-0. Messi made his presence known with two goals, one of which came from a penalty.

Thanks to his hat trick last week against Deportivo, Messi has six goals in his last three games, giving him 21 this season. Slowly but quietly, Messi is catching up to Cristiano Ronaldo in goals scored. Ronaldo, who did not score in Week 20, has 28 goals this season.

With that victory, Barcelona improved their overall record to 15-2-3 giving them 47 points. The offense starts and finishes with Messi, but Neymar has been experiencing another great season. Neymar has 14 goals, providing one of the best second options in the league this season. One of Messi's best attributes is his passing game. Messi now has a league-leading 10 assists, eight of which have been scored by Neymar.

Messi and Neymar have created one of the best duos in the league, and have their squad in contention to win a 23rd Spanish league title.

Goalkeeper Claudio Bravo has been by far the best netminder. The 31-year-old Chilean goalie has allowed just nine goals in 20 games this La Liga season. Over the last six games, Bravo has allowed two goals, and has an incredible four shutouts in that time span.

Barcelona will face Villarreal in their next game.

Still atop the standings is their rival, Real Madrid.

Real Madrid won a close narrow game against Cordoba, 2-1. Gareth Bale scored on a penalty kick in the 89th minute of play to seal the deal. For the second time in the last three weeks, superstar forward Cristiano Ronaldo was held scoreless. Although he failed to score a goal, Ronaldo still made headlines, but for the wrong reasons.

In the 82nd minute, Ronaldo received a red card (watch below) and was eventually ejected for slapping a Cordoba player near the goal.

Real Madrid increased their win total to 16 giving them a league-high 48 points. Real Madrid has been in first place since Week 10, when they overtook Barcelona in the standings. Similar to Barcelona, Real Madrid also has a three-game winning streak, and it's thanks much in part to their goalkeeper. Iker Casillas has allowed just one goal in his last three games after the loss to Valencia in Week 17.

Neymar provides a great second look for Messi, but Ronaldo has a lot of offensive support as well. Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and James Rodriguez make it hard to double-team Ronaldo. Real Madrid's powerful offense has scored 64 goals this season, 10 more than any other team.

Real Madrid will take on Real Sociedad next week at home.

The defending Spanish league champions picked up a much needed win against Rayo Vallecano. Atletico Madrid won the game 3-1 thanks to Antoine Griezmann's two goals. Griezmann now has a team-high 10 goals, and Atletico Madrid was able to pick up their 14th victory of the season. Atletico Madrid lost just four games all of last season, so this year it will be even harder to finish on top.

Atletico Madrid will play Eibar in their next game.