The Los Blancos dramatically ended Barcelona’s two-year grip on the LaLiga title and emerged the Spanish champions once again, despite a season when they were often far from their scintillating best.
The triumph has prompted coach Zinedine Zidane to declare this victory felt infinitely sweeter than any of the three straight Champions League crowns the club has won under his tenure. Were it anyone else making this declaration, it could easily have been construed as adding insult to Barcelona’s injuries having to suffer the indignity of this loss.
Real assertively clinched their 34th league title with a game to spare after a convincing 2-1 victory over Villarreal sealed with two brilliants goals by Karim Benzeema. The Los Blancos were initially trailing Barca by two points when LaLiga was interrupted by coronavirus in March only to notch 10 wins in a row when the season resumed.
“The Champions League is the Champions League but La Liga makes me happier, because La Liga is what it’s all about,” Zidane told Spanish network Movistar after winning his 11th trophy as Real coach and his second league triumph.
“This is a tremendous feeling because what these players have done is incredible. I am lost for words because I am too emotional.”
With the LaLiga done and dusted, Real will now need to overturn a last-16 first leg home defeat to Manchester City to remain in this season’s Champions League now that they have snatched the domestic bragging rights away from Barcelona.
Real’s title-clinching three points came at an empty Alfredo di Stefano stadium at their training ground while the Santiago Bernabeu undergoes renovation work. Unfortunately with the circumstances prevailing as they are, the team will not be able to celebrate with their fans for fear of spreading the coronavirus.
“It’s strange for everybody, we would have liked to have been with our fans but it’s not meant to be,” Zidane said. “But I’m sure everyone is happy in their homes tonight. The fans always love to see the team win and we’ve done this for them.”
Barcelona, on the other hand, was surprisingly beaten at home by Osasuna, and are now in need of a real miracle to stay in the Champions League where they are tied 1-1 with Napoli going into the second leg of the last-16.
The Barcelona team were lambasted by their talisman Lionel Messi who angrily declared: “This game represents the entire year. We have been an erratic and weak team.”
“Madrid did its part by winning all its matches, which is impressive, but we also helped them to win this league. We have to be critical of how we have played. We have lost because of our mistakes and not because of Madrid’s successes.”
Strong words indeed from a man who’s known to let his prowess on the pitch do the talking. The Barca living legend and visionary is clearly seeing the sword of Damocles poised precariously over their heads and knows the time is imminent for him to speak as the most iconic Blaugrana talisman ever on behalf of the oracles, without fear or favor, if the Spanish giants were to cherish any real hopes of redeeming themselves with Champions League honors now that they have allowed the LaLiga trophy to painfully slip from their clutches.