Barcelona silences critics as protests intensify in town

FC Barcelona has been going through a rough patch throughout the first few months of the season. However, upon Lionel Messi's return to full fitness, they have boosted their morale. For the first time this season, they are at the top of the La Liga table.

Following the club's deserved victory over Eibar, the Blaugrana has finally claimed the the top spot in the league. However, Barca's win alone couldn't have sent them on top. They also needed their rivals, Real Madrid, to drop points against Mallorca.

The season is proving to be very tight. The top five teams are breathing down each other's necks. Leaders Barcelona have 19 points and are one point clear of Real Madrid. Granada on the other hand, is also just a point behind Real Madrid and a point ahead of the three-way tie among Real Sociedad, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, who are sitting in 4th, 5th and 6th respectively.

Barca's win last weekend allowed them to become the league leaders for the first time this season. Ernesto Valverde's side didn't start the season in the same form as they are currently displaying. Lionel Messi's absence because of injury also played an important role on his teammates' lacklustre performances.

Ever since Messi came back to the field, Barca has also returned to the race. The defending champions have now won 5 consecutive fixtures.

They will also be happy to note that the are way ahead of the Madrid attack by scoring 7 more goals than their arch-rivals. However, despite all the criticism against Thibaut Courtois, Real has one less goal conceded than the Catalans.

Barcelona's home El Clasico, which was originally scheduled for this coming weekend, has officially been postponed. It has been confirmed that the match will be moved to December 18 instead of October 26. The Catalan region is currently being bombarded with pro-separatist protests as part of their intense freedom movement. This all started after 9 separatist movement leaders were arrested a week ago.

According to Sport, Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu positioned himself against the arrests. He also expressed his concerns about the violence. He said that neither the arrests nor violence is the key to finding a suitable solution.