What was once thought to be a done deal has now opened itself up to be one of the more exciting championship races in soccer. FC Barcelona had a stranglehold on the La Liga title race, with as much as a 10 point lead as recently as three weeks ago. They seemed unstoppable, carrying a 39-match unbeaten streak into last weekend's El Clásico match against rival Real Madrid.

But my, how things have changed.

In their domestic slate, Barça has not won their last three matches. They tied 2-2 with Villarreal before the international break March 20, then lost 2-1 to Real Madrid and lost 1-0 to Real Sociedad away from home on Saturday. They are in an obvious funk, with Lionel Messi going four matches without a goal for the first time since 2011.

However traveling to San Sebastian to play at the Anoeta has never been easy for the Catalans. With Saturday's loss they remain without a win there since May 2007. Adding to their possible excuses was the fact that they were without four starters, with Luis Suarez suspended one match for receiving a yellow card in Barcelona's match against Real Madrid.

Even the game that they won amidst their domestic dive, a home tie against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, was not all that impressive. Yes they won 2-1, but did so against an Atletico side that was reduced to 10 men. And the man sent off, striker Fernando Torres, scored Atleti's one goal.

The Madrid teams had no problem generating offense for themselves, as Real Madrid won 4-0 over Eibar at home and Atletico traveled to Catalauña to face Barcelona's city rivals, Espanyol, dispatching them 3-1. Cristiano Ronaldo continued his torrid form when playing in front of the Bernabeu crowd, scoring the match's third goal while also assisting on two others. Los blancos led 3-0 after only 15 minutes of play, with Colombian James Rodriguez opening the scoring with a free kick, surely making some amends for his non-chalant attitude on the bench during Madrid's shock Champions League defeat to Wolfsburg last Wednesday. 

Lucas Vasquez and Jese also scored for Real, both off assists from Ronaldo. Ronaldo's goal was his 30th in domestic competition, furthering his lead in that category.

Fernando Torres kept up his brilliant form, scoring for the third game in a row, after getting dragged over the coals for his long dry spell in midseason. Frenchman Antoine Griezmann and Spain international Koke also scored for Atletico. Los colchoneros and Torres will hope to continue their offensive prowess this week as they host Barcelona for the second and final leg of their Champions League match up. Atletico trails 2-1 but did get an away goal that could prove important.

Photo: Flickr/El Renzo