They may be 10 points clear of Barcelona, having scored an incredible 79 goals in 23 matches and with a +58 goal difference but there are plenty of suggestions doing the rounds that Real Madrid only lead La Liga by such a large margin due to referee mistakes.

Jose Mourinho always dominates in his second season at a club and this has once again been the case in 2011/2012 but there are plenty of sour grapes coming from fans of the Catalan giants and it should be pointed out that the video below is one of many that can be found on YouTube and other similar sites.

Perhaps it is due to the two-horse race that is the Spanish Primera Division, leaving any victor open to criticism, although plenty will point to darker forces.

Decisions even themselves out over a season don’t they?

As Real Madrid have won their last eight La Liga matches and 18 out of 19 besides the Bernabeu loss to Barcelona, it seems almost certain that Los Blancos will end the season as champions.

The video below however claims that Pep Guardiola’s side should be a lot closer to Real Madrid, perhaps even leading La Liga. The thinking is as follows:

Valencia 2 – Barcelona 2 (La Liga, September 21, 2011) Barcelona were denied two penalties at the Mestalla, one of which could have seen Adil Rami sent off. 2 points dropped by Barcelona.

Getafe 1 – Barcelona 0 (La Liga, November 26, 2011) What turned out to be a legal Lionel Messi goal was disallowed for offside right at the death. 1 point dropped by Barcelona.

Espanyol 1 – Barcelona 1 (La Liga, January 8, 2012) Pedro was denied a penalty for a handball by Raul Rodriguez in the final minute. 2 points dropped by Barcelona.

Osasuna 3 – Barcelona 2 (La Liga, february 11, 2012) Barcelona were denied two goals due to erroneous offside calls and one of Mallorca’s goals could have been ruled out due to an offside. 3 points dropped by Barcelona.

Valencia 2 – Real Madrid 3 (La Liga, November 19, 2011) Gonzalo Higuain appeared to handle in a late scramble which would likely have resulted in a Valencia equaliser. 2 points gained by Real Madrid.

Mallorca 1 – Real Madrid 2 (La Liga, January 14, 2012) Mallorca were denied a second goal, to go 2-0 up, due to an erroneous offside call. Los Blancos would surely have struggled to win the match if they had gone two goals down. 3 points gained by Real Madrid.

Getafe 0 – Real Madrid 1 (La Liga, February 4, 2012) Pepe handled in the box and Getafe could well have been awarded a penalty. 2 points gained by Real Madrid.

Incredibly, some Barcelona supporters are pointing at a 15 point swing which would put them well ahead at the top of the table.

All this must be cautioned by the fact that there are tons of ifs and maybes on the video below. Much would depend on a host of penalties being scored once given and other parts of the match following the same pattern as they eventually did.

Plus of course referee mistakes are part and parcel of football and Barcelona would not have won the 2009 Champions League without a host of decisions going their way at Stamford Bridge in the semi-final second leg.

The video that claims Real Madrid are only leading La Liga by 10 points due to referee mistakes is here.

This is a longer video with all of the decisions that have gone Real Madrid’s way in 2011/2012.