Real Madrid's season has been spectacular. They are champions with four games to go in La Liga thanks to their win against Cádiz and Barcelona's serious slip-up against Girona.
However, Los Merengues still have an extra motivation not to get carried away in the last remaining month of domestic competition.
The new goal, after winning their 36th league title, is none other than to break the record for the biggest points difference between first and second at the end of the season, held by their eternal rivals for the last 11 years.
The team coached by Pep Guardiola finished 15 points ahead of the Spanish capital side after 38 games. Xavi Hernández was part of that squad, as was current captain Sergi Roberto as a youth player.
In the 2012/13 season, the Ciudad Condal side equalled the best-ever 100 points obtained by Los Blancos the previous year. They also scored 115 goals and conceded just 40.
Those were times when going below 90 points was practically synonymous with being out of the fight for the title. Now, the difficulty has diminished slightly, but Madrid could still reach 99 points if they win all their remaining games.
Ahead, a very interesting schedule to smash Barcelona's record: Alavés and Real Betis at the Santiago Bernabéu; and visits to Granada and Villarreal.
The team will probably have to rotate a lot of players from now on, but will the motivation of the less regular players be able to help Los Blancos make their history even better?
Other times
If we transfer old classifications, in which victories were only worth two points, to the current format, we find that it is Real Madrid themselves who would hold the record for the biggest points difference ahead of the second-placed team at the end of a league.
The club won three championships with a 12-point difference when winning was given less value. The first two came against Atlético de Madrid in 1960/61 and 1962/63. The third came with victory over Real Zaragoza in 1974/75.
