BARCELONA turned El Clasico into a coronation tonight, swatting aside Real Madrid 2-0 at a roaring Camp Nou to claim their 29th LaLiga title.
Hansi Flick’s side moved to an unassailable 91 points, 14 clear of second-placed Real with three games remaining.
The triumph capped a dominant campaign in which they lost only four league matches. Villarreal are third on 69 points.
Real arrived needing victory to keep their wafer-thin title hopes alive.
Marcus Rashford crushed those aspirations just nine minutes into the game.
Antonio Rudiger fouled Ferran Torres just outside the box and Rashford bent a superb free kick into Thibaut Courtois’ top-left corner, giving Barcelona the early lead and sending the home crowd into raptures.
Nine minutes later, Barcelona doubled the lead. Fermin Lopez crossed into the area and Dani Olmo produced a clever backheel that sent the ball into the path of Torres, who rifled a fierce strike into the top corner.
The win completed back-to-back league titles for Flick, who also delivered the LaLiga and Copa del Rey double in his first season last year.
Both sides were heavily depleted. Barcelona were without Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Jules Kounde from the starting line-up.
Real’s list of missing players was longer, with Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy, Arda Guler and Rodrygo all absent.
Federico Valverde also missed out after suffering a head injury following a midweek changing-room fight with team mate Aurelien Tchouameni, with both players fined €500,000 over the incident.
Kylian Mbappe did not travel because of a leg muscle injury, forcing manager Alvaro Arbeloa to start Vinicius Jr alongside academy striker Gonzalo, with Jude Bellingham and Brahim Diaz pushing forward in support.
Real threatened through Vinicius and Gonzalo before halftime, but Barcelona carried the greater menace. Courtois kept the visitors alive with fine saves from Torres and Rashford before the interval.
Barcelona continued to press after the break, Rashford repeatedly tormenting left back Fran Garcia down the right, while Courtois produced another sharp stop with his left foot to deny Torres from point-blank range in the 56th minute.
Bellingham had a goal ruled out for offside in the 62nd minute and Joan Garcia was quick to deny Vinicius in a one-on-one, preventing the Brazilian from lifting the ball over him.
Real kept probing late on, but there was little bite in their attack, and Barcelona calmly saw out the win before the title celebrations began.
Reuters
