Barcelona captain Carles Puyol believes that Real Madrid, who have been suffering a stuttering form for a while, are still in contention for the Primera Liga title. The Spanish champions are trailing the Catalans by 12 points, having lost 2-0 to Josip Guardiola's men in El Classico at Camp Nou on Saturday. "The gap of 12 points is important, but Madrid would never consider giving up," the Spanish international was quoted by skysports.com as saying. The 30-year-old is convinced that the mass media can be occasionally misleading. "The hype is something that we cannot control. We were not that bad before and we are not that great now, everyone has to look for the middle ground." Barcelona are now on the top of the Primera Liga table with 38 points, eight ahead of second-placed Valencia.