by Tim Stannard

Barca may be on a high after Monday's Messi-inspired win but tougher challenges await Ronald Koeman's men

Sports Burst has checked the calendar and it's now officially high time to burst a bubble. Curiously, today's target is Barcelona and a dose of the 'easy now, are you sure?' for the club's backers in the league title race.  

The timing seems does seem a little off for such a declaration. Barcelona have just comfortably defeated Huesca to complete a run of 17 matches in LaLiga unbeaten, with 14 victories to boot. It has moved Barcelona from being 'no chance' for the LaLiga title to quite a few having Barca in pole position. This is despite still being four points off the shoulder of Atletico Madrid.

However, there are some bigger fish to fry for Barcelona over the next four rounds of LaLiga that could conceivably see the Camp Nou club picking up just three points from 12 - quite the setback for any title aspirations.

A trip to Real Sociedad is next up, a team currently in fifth and more than capable of a win. A home match against Valladolid doesn't look too troubling but then it is double away days for Barcelona against Real Madrid and then Athletic Club. 

As for Atletico, it's a run that includes two very winnable home games against struggling Alaves and Huesca but admittedly tough matches on the road against Betis and Sevilla. Eight points is very doable though with a glass half-full approach. Sports Burst's math has Atletico's lead over Barcelona stretching back to nine with just seven games left. 

It's an 'alternate' alternate reality to the current favorite, but one to help Ronald Koeman keep his players' eyes on the prize. And y'all at home not to take anything for granted and keep tuning in to a title race for the ages. Real Sociedad vs. Barcelona is live on beIN SPORTS on Sunday from 3:30PM ET. 

Zidane begins Hazard investigation with four questions 

Coach Zizou is having to be all with the Hercule Poirot to try and work out what is going on with Eden Hazard - "it's inexplicable" was the admission from the Real Madrid manager on Monday.

The mystery is Eden Hazard's seemingly endless string of injuries. The Belgian - the same nationality as Poirot, incidentally - is on the sidelines once again with a muscle problem to miss Tuesday's Champions League game against Atalanta. This comes after Hazard played just 15 minutes as a substitute in Saturday's win against Elche. 

Hazard has made just six starts for Real Madrid this season in LaLiga and only two of those resulted in a win. In the Belgian's near two-season spell with Madrid, only three goals have been scored which is three times less than Casemiro in the same period. It's not a good tally for a $126.5 million fee paid to Chelsea. 

Zidane was thoroughly probed on Hazard's latest setback and hinted that "there are four questions on Hazard – I can't say any more."

The Sports Burst live show might delve into asking some of them at 11AM ET live on beIN SPORTS XTRA. 

The show is the tasty filling in an Africa Champions League triple-decker sandwich today that starts off with reigning champions, Al Ahly in action in a match day 4 clash from 9AM and rounds off with Cairo rivals, Zamalek at 3PM ET. And all for free.