Just when it looked like Barcelona were running away with the La Liga title, two awful mistakes by referees seem to be injecting some artificial interest in the Spanish league, helping out Real Madrid. 

First it was the decision to ignore Lionel Messi’s goal against Valencia. The 1-1 draw between the top two sides in Spain this season came to be thanks to official Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva not seeing Messi’s hot crossing the goal line, something that as Jordi Alba put it, anyone could see from the halfway line, with no help from any replay.

A few days later and at home, against Celta Vigo, Barcelona drop points once again. True, they can only blame themselves for dropping a 2-1 lead against an inferior side. However, Luis Suarez scored a goal in the 25th minute that should have given Barcelona the lead, yet it was cancelled for an offside that never existed. Melero Lopez was the referee in the match, slowing down Barcelona’s momentum. Celta scored first in the match, but Barca equalized almost instantly through Lionel Messi.

If Real Madrid win their away match against Bilbao tonight, they’ll be just 6 points behind Barcelona, which seems like a different world compared to the double digit margin we had a week ago. And Valencia too can come close, narrowing it down to 2 points, if they win their match against Getafe.