Often labelled as a dull league and more famously, a “three-horse race”, La Liga has failed to generate the fan-following and hype that the Premier League has enjoyed.

Although it’s not until the ultimate or the penultimate matchday that the tussle at the top is resolved, the fact that Barcelona have won seven of the last ten editions does not bode well with La Liga’s claim of being one of the most entertaining leagues.

Last season, a resurgence of a host of dark-horses has established some balance in the league and a crescendo of the same over the past few months has now given rise to what can be one of the most interesting seasons in the Spanish league.

Here, we take a look at some of the interesting happenings in La Liga.

Mighty have fallen?

Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Valencia can be regarded as the big five in La Liga, taking into account their consistency in the top flight, the quality of the players and their budget. The big five dropped a total of 39 points between them after ten games last season.

In the current season so far, the big five are scattered across the table and have already dropped 66 points – a 54 per cent increase from last season indicating the balance in the league.

Barcelona, for all their surge in the past two weeks, haven’t had the prettiest of starts in the league. A four-game winless streak included a defeat to Leganes, a team currently in the relegation zone. Sevilla meanwhile were dominated in the Seville derby but Betis needed a late header by club-legend Joaquin to seal the deal. Real Madrid have now gone six matches without winning and look completely out of sorts.

Dark horses step up

Alaves were languishing in the second division three seasons ago, and now they sit a solitary point below league leaders Barcelona and have accumulated more points than any team that’s not Barcelona or Atletico Madrid since Abelardo Fernandez took over last December.

Espanyol haven’t tasted defeat since their narrow 1-0 loss to Real Madrid six games ago. Incidentally that happens to be the last time Los Blancos bagged all three points. The Catalan club’s only other defeat this season came at the hands of Alaves on September 2.

A team with a budget of €2m entered the first division via play-offs. Real Valladolid now find themselves above the European champions in the league table. Valladolid are within the European spots and have lost just two games this campaign, against the top two teams in the league.

Levante are enjoying their four-game winning run which included a win at the Bernabeu. They opened their league campaign with a dominant 3-0 win over Real Betis, a team with European football experience.

Anybody’s game

Real Madrid are said to be in crisis but what’s interesting is that Los Blancos are just seven points off the table toppers.

At this stage last season, it was an eight-point deficit that prevented them from topping the table. The same eight points that separated first placed Barcelona and third placed Real Madrid last season now separates Barcelona from 13^th placed Real Betis.

Real Betis, a team accustomed to 4-0 wins, 5-0 defeats, 5-3 defeats, 5-3 wins last season have scored just five goals this term, the least in the league. However, they’ve conceded fewer goals than leaders Barcelona.

Apart from Barcelona, the only other team to concede a defeat to Leganes this season is Rayo Vallecano, a team sitting in the 19^th position. Rayo Vallecano have won just one game, against 20^th placed Huesca, whose win came against Eibar, a team who were competing for a European spot last season.

Teams like Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao who are regular contenders for a European place are hovering over the relegation zone and share a total of three wins in the league between them in twenty games.

Valencia, a team with European football, is just three points above the relegation zone after winning just one game in the league so far. But they’ve lost just one match, same as table-toppers Barcelona. Second placed Alaves have seen more defeats.

There’s chaos in La Liga and the table sees a shuffle every week. Whether the balance is sustained until later in the season remains to be seen. For now, one can be treated to some high-quality, competitive football every week.