Two weekends back, La Liga returned to normalcy, with both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona winning, and so the ever-lengthening tussle between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid at the top remains comically suspended in mid-air. Does anyone really want to win La Liga?

Perhaps then the footballing gods should hand the Spanish title to Sevilla. They will merit it – the interlopers who have served as a refreshing relief from the Catalan-Madrilean axis of power with their frenetic, attacking football. Jorge Sampaoli’s team play with verve, but in third place, on 57 points and suffering a crunch defeat against Atletico Madrid, that top spot may be somewhat of utopian.

And so, it is back to the inevitable duopoly and its permanent claim to league glory. The two behemoths of the Spanish game have been playing a strange, leapfrogging game, time and again conning the other into believing the title is within grasp, time and again altering the course of the title race with self-inflicted defeats. That’s the rub about this strange duet: Barcelona and Real Madrid in particular have had ample opportunities to obtain a decisive advantage at the top, but they haven’t seized them.

Zidane’s strange predicament

Under Zinedine Zidane Madrid remain a strangely, amorphous team, the sum of their parts, but nothing more. Even after winning the Champions League last May, even after getting a record 16 consecutive wins in the Spanish league, and even after lifting the World Cup for clubs, Zidane’s Madrid never truly convince, or at least don’t play in a manner befitting the galactic club.

It’s strange predicament for Zidane to be in – his budding coaching career is under threat from the nagging question if Zizou can truly implement the style that is so associated with Real Madrid. Yes, he has delivered trophies and points, but much of Madrid’s game feels as the simple, but limited, expression of eleven overly-gifted individuals.

Sergio Ramos and Casemiro were the two stand-out players in Madrid’s last two La Liga wins. The club from the capital ground out victories against Real Betis and Athletic Bilbao respectively. First, Ramos, notwithstanding his set piece history, popped up in the box to salvage three points. It was flummoxing that Madrid’s captain got so much space in a dead-ball situation. Ramos’s movement was excellent, and so was his timing, but Betis’ defensive positioning was, on the evidence, very questionable.

Then, Casemiro scored the winner at the San Mames against Bilbao. The Brazilian had an outstanding game. He was lucky to escape a yellow card for a terrible challenge on Inaki Williams and duly got one as part of a running battle with Aritz Aduriz. Casemiro, however, balanced his obdurate traits with some refined skills in setting up the first goal. He was a constant scourge for Athletic. The understated No 14 epitomised “the personality” that coach Zidane lauded about his team after the full-time whistle.

Barcelona’s season of mini-crises

If Madrid play with personality more than with a chiselled, well-defined identity, the same applies to Barcelona. The Catalans have endured and enjoyed – at least, for 90 apocalyptic minutes against Paris Saint-Germain – an undulated season. They have gone from mini-crisis to mini-crisis, with nine defeats in 28 La Liga matches, fended off near-elimination in the European Cup and face Luis Enrique’s lengthy farewell.

The coach has been accused of steering Barcelona away from their core identity. All the virtues of the Guardiolan era, pressing, positioning and possession, have been watered down, with Barcelona no longer the enigmatic masters of the beautiful game. It’s a deep-running accusation, but one backed up by empirical evidence, all undone by those hysterical 90 minutes against PSG. That 6-1 was in turn forgotten by a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Deportivo La Coruna. Barcelona came back crushing down to earth with mundane play.

Then, Barcelona rekindled their game, with much joy and fun in their play, driven by an energetic Lionel Messi. Enrique returned to his 3-4-3 formation, the one that tore PSG apart. Barcelona won 4-2 against a valiant Valencia. There were glimpses of footballing greatness and the “playerish” intelligence that the Calatans have long harnessed. At the same time, they were vulnerable at the back, in particular on the counter.

With the three points Barcelona reduced the gap with Madrid to two points, but the Merengues have a game in hand. The teams remain inconsistent, the race tight and so, conventional wisdom suggests the El Classico in April may go a long way in deciding who will triumph.