La Liga Week 20 Schedule, Fixtures, Table & Preview: Real Madrid & Barcelona Look to Keep Winning Streaks Alive

By Damon Salvadore First Posted: Jan 23, 2015 12:30 PM EST

Halfway through the 2014-15 La Liga season, three teams have at least 40 points. Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have led the way this entire season and look to add another victory this weekend.

Still atop the standings is Real Madrid. Real Madrid has an impressive 15-0-3 record giving them 45 points this season. Last week Real Madrid defeated Getafe (3-0) on the road thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo's two goals. With those two goals, Ronaldo now has a league-leading 28 goals this year. The current Ballon d'Or winner is still on pace to break Lionel Messi's single-season scoring record set in 2011-12.

Real Madrid has now won the last two consecutive games after losing to Valencia in Week 17, 2-1. This week Real Madrid will take on Cordoba, again on the road. Cordoba is ranked 14th this year with a disappointing 3-9-7 record. To put the team differential into perspective, Real Madrid has scored 62 goals this season to Cordoba's 15.

Just one point behind Real Madrid is their rival, Barcelona. Similar to Real Madrid, they too have bounced back after their Week 17 loss. Barcelona has won their last two consecutive games, against Atletico Madrid and Deportivo. Barcelona is now 14-2-3 with 44 points, good enough for second place.

Ronaldo may have scored two goals last week, but Messi stole the show. Messi recorded another hat trick in the team's 4-0 victory over Deportivo. Messi has a team-leading 19 goals, while Brazilian striker Neymar has 12 of his own. Thanks to goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, Barcelona is the only team in the league to not allow 10 goals this season.

This week Barcelona will face Elche, who has just four wins and sits in 16th place overall. Barcelona should be able to pick up their third consecutive victory, and with a potential Real Madrid loss, they would be in first place.

And then, of course, we have Atletico Madrid. The defending champions are 13-2-4 this season with notable wins over Real Madrid and Sevilla. Just two weeks ago Atletico Madrid fell to Barcelona, 3-1. Last week Atletico Madrid shutout Granada, 2-0, to earn their 14th win of the season.

Goalkeeper Miguel Moya played fantastic, not allowing a single goal, and he knows this week is critical if the team is going to compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid. Atletico Madrid will take on Rayo at home at the Vicente Calderón Stadium on Saturday.

The Monday game will be Getafe against Celta Vigo. Neither team appears ready to make a championship run, but this should be a good competitive game between two equal teams.