Sevilla have lost their magic touch in Primera Liga

Sevilla have had a team to justify their support in the last decade, but the reigning Spanish Cup holders have dipped alarmingly this season and are eighth on the table.

resuscitate the league, declared one headline in Spain after Gregorio Manzano's side came from behind to draw 1-1 against the league leaders

on Sunday.

Such is the winning form of Spain's big two that even a hard fought away draw against a side who beat them in Camp Nou last year is judged two dropped points. Barca's lead over Real Madrid is now five points - effectively six with the head-to-head rule.

If a Real side unbeaten at home defeat the Catalans at the Bernabeu next month then it will be cut to two. Game on - at least until Real draw or lose another away game.

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Jose Mourinho's side are in form, but they could not have a tougher run of away games until the end of the season, starting with neighbours Atletico next week. Further matches at Athletic Bilbao, Valencia, Sevilla and Villarreal will follow. If Real win all of those games, they deserve to be champions.

Barca's run-in is far easier. Like Real, they are overwhelming favourites to win every home game. Unlike the team from the capital, Barca are peerless on the road. Unbeaten away in the league, the draw at Sevilla was only the second away league game they had failed to win all season, the other being a 1-1 draw at Gijon last month.

No team in world football enjoys such an impressive away record. Pep Guardiola's side are actually better away than in the Camp Nou, having scored more goals and conceded fewer.

Two difficult away games at Villarreal and the Bernabeu await before they travel to Real Sociedad, Levante and finally relegation-threatened Malaga on the final day of the season.

Mourinho admits that the best his side can do is hope that Barca drop points as they did on Sunday, but there is no shame in not winning at Sevilla.

The Sanchez Pizjuan is one of the toughest stadiums for any visitors and is usually full to its 45,000 capacity with their fans among the most vocal in Spain.

Sevilla have had a team to justify their support in the last decade, but the reigning Spanish Cup holders have dipped alarmingly this season.

They are eighth in the table - not good enough for fans accustomed to top-four finishes and cup victories aplenty.

The September appointment of Gregorio Manzano, a skilled and respected coach, was supposed to steady the ship after their exit from the Champions League at the qualifying stage.

Instead, Sevilla have got far worse as the Manzano presided over player ill-discipline unimaginable when Juande Ramos coached with such success between the glory years of 2005 to 2007. Even Jose Maria Del Nido, the president, admitted: "We have made more mistakes than we should have."

Those mistakes are in every area. As the departures of Julio Baptista, Jose Antonio Reyes and Sergio Ramos show, Sevilla have always lost their best players to the big two, but they can only lose so many before they start to suffer.

Daniel Alves and Seydou Keita also left. Imagine if all Sevilla's players had stayed; they would be able to challenge Real and Barca. What quality remained is ageing - Freddie Kanoute is 33, while Luis Fabiano returned home to Brazil last week.

Much of Sevilla's success was in identifying emerging talents. Monchi, the sporting director, was usually responsible. He is the man who found and signed Alves for ?200,000 (Dh1.02 million) and Luis Fabiano for ?3.5m. Last summer's signings were far more expensive, but far less effective. Monchi's magic touch has deserted him.

Sevilla still have fine players like Jesus Navas, who scored the equaliser against Barca and the striker Alvaro Negredo, but they are too few. They have lost as many games as they have won this season and while the draw against Barca showed a spirit long since passed, they can forget about a top-four finish this term.