Cristiano Ronaldo is struggling physically and Barcelona are looking ominous, says Guillem Balague

Guillem Balague answers your questions on Cristiano Ronaldo's fitness, the return of the Champions League and Luis Enrique's turnaround at Barcelona.

Real boss Carlo Ancelotti said he was not worried by Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent drop off in form – is it just that the forward is struggling with his knee, or should Madrid fans be more worried? (Cate)

GUILLEM SAYS: This is the first year Cristiano Ronaldo has seen the limits of his body and how you deal with that is not easy.

In fact, Gaizka Mendieta was telling me that what happens when your body does not give you everything you are used to, there is a lack of synchronisation between the head and the body. So the head may want you to go and run for a ball, into space, or do the things you have always done, but the body does not always respond. 

Obviously everybody knows about his personal situation, but more importantly for him has been the fact he has still got pain in his knee that does not let him play at his very best. And if you look at the last year, he was not on top form between March and July. Yes, he was involved in the team’s play, but he was also injured for most of that time, or at least suffering from not being at his peak physical condition.

After Atletico Madrid’s surprise loss on Sunday, do you think it is now just a two-horse race for the title? (Jack)

GUILLEM SAYS: Not necessarily as Real Madrid may still drop points, while we will also have to see how all three sides respond to defeats, and how strong their respective benches are, when they make their Champions League return. So I am pretty sure there are still some twists left to come in the title race.

But Atletico were poor in terms of both attitude and organisation at Celta Vigo, which was surprising. It was also a mistake by Diego Simeone to select Antoine Griezmann, Fernando Torres and Mario Mandzukic, who have only played together for seven minutes this season, because it did not guarantee any fluidity with the ball or the type of aggression and pressure Atletico are so well known for.

And that is why Atleti are interested in signing Santi Cazorla for next season if either Arda Turan or Koke leave, because of the lack of magic in the team at times.

Luis Enrique has just equalled Pep Guardiola’s record of 11 straight wins with Barcelona – are his critics now getting less and less vocal? (Dominic)

GUILLEM SAYS: At the moment, Barcelona do look amazing: Lionel Messi cannot stop scoring, Neymar is growing, although he is less consistent than Messi; for example against Villarreal in the Copa del Rey last week he not only missed a penalty, but also drifted in and out of the game at times.

However, against Levante on the weekend the Brazilian was involved in absolutely everything, he ran a lot without the ball and did a lot of work with it, and was generally superb.

And on top of all that, there was Luis Suarez’s goal which means he will have gained a grain or two of confidence, and generally the team worked really well against Levante.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Now there is no questioning 11 straight wins – you do not get that by chance, especially when some of those are against Atletico – but my concern, as we saw against Villarreal, is that sometimes they can lose a little bit of control in certain parts of the game.

Surely Luis Enrique will still be in charge at Nou Camp next season? (Mark)

GUILLEM SAYS: It is important to remember of course there are presidential elections coming up this summer and that means candidates being associated with other potential coaches. So what happens if, for example, Joan Laporta or Agusti Benedito - the two other favoured candidates alongside current president Josep Maria Bartomeu - decide to bring their own coach with them?

However, it will be very difficult to get rid of Enrique if he wins the league and comes close to winning the Champions League.

With these elections, though, players cannot be used as a voting tool by candidates because of the club’s current transfer ban, but coaches can, so they could change the manager which will make it a very interesting summer for Barcelona.

The Champions League returns this week with Real travelling to Schalke – which teams are capable of beating the holders? (Richoleary) And can Barcelona win this season’s Champions League, as no one seems to be talking about them? (Barry)

GUILLEM SAYS: I still see Bayern Munich, who destroyed Hamburg last week, as one of the favourites for the semi-finals along with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea, unless they cross paths beforehand.

Madrid will definitely improve though. They have Schalke this week, who they should beat, and then they have time to recover both some of the essence and players they have lost in recent weeks.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

So, for instance, Pepe is now back after injury, while Marcelo, who was substituted against Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday, is expected to be fit to face the Germans. And so when centre-back Sergio Ramos and midfielder Luka Modric are both back from injury, you will certainly have a stronger Real line-up.

Should Atletico prioritise the Champions League now that the defence of their title looks to be over? (Sam)

GUILLEM SAYS: Try saying that to Simeone, who is a winner! Meanwhile third place is also important with Valencia now only three points behind Atletico and if they went from being champions to finishing fourth the next season, that would be seen as a very disappointing campaign, if not a failure.

However, I still think they will come back into the title race though.