La Liga’s defending champions Barcelona got the job done on the final day to stave off arch-rivals Real Madrid to lift their 24th league title with a win over Granada. Although Real Madrid also managed to get all three points with a win over Deportivo La Coruna, the Catalan club lifted the La Liga title with a single point separating the two sides after 38 games.
Granada 0-3 Barcelona
Luis Enrique went with his standard starting lineup in the game away at a very sunny Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes. The Andalusian side with a few former Real Madrid Castilla players were looking to upset the defending champions in a bid to help Madrid but were on the back foot soon after the game kicked off.
Gerard Pique had the chance to give the Catalan club the lead when he had a header on target but the effort was saved on the line by goalkeeper Andre Fernandez. The 29-year-old shot-stopper was called into action moments later when he tipped over a long-range shot from Messi.
But Granada’s hopes of keeping a clean sheet evaporated 20 minutes into the game when Barcelona finally broke through. Jordi Alba did well to beat the offside trap and make an overlapping run after playing a quick one-two to find space in the box.
With the defence scrambling to recover from the error, Alba found Luis Suarez making a run at the far post and squared the ball for the Uruguayan striker to score with a simple tap-in. It was Suarez’s 38th goal of the league campaign.
Barcelona soon made it 2-0 as they looked to wrap up the league title in style. Javier Mascherano’s diagonal pass to a sprinting Dani Alves saw the Brazilian full-back reach it just in time before sending the ball towards the near post with a delicious cross. Luis Suarez did the rest as he met it with his head to beat the keeper and find the back of the net. With Ronaldo substituted at half-time in the other game, Suarez officially became the winner of the Pichichi too.
While the second half did not see as much action as the first, Luis Suarez completed his hat-trick – again another tap-in. Messi slipped Neymar a through ball after he beat the offside trap and he simply laid it on a plate for Suarez to score and retain the Liga title.
Deportivo 0-2 Real Madrid
Zinedine Zidane used a strong lineup with Keylor Navas, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Pepe and Dani Carvajal returning to the starting XI. Both Toni Kroos and Casemiro started in central midfield as Real Madrid looked to seal the title at the Estadio Riazor.
Although Bale started on the right, the front three of ‘BBC’ kept switching positions in attack and that was how the first goal came about. The Welsh forward received the ball on the left flank and cut in towards the goal line. As soon as he attracted a second defender, he quickly zipped the ball towards Benzema in the centre of the box.
But the French striker did not take a shot and, instead, passed it first time to Cristiano Ronaldo at the far post and the Portuguese forward simply tapped it in with his left foot as the goalkeeper made a desperate attempt to dive to his left but failed to make the save. It was his 34th league goal of the season and 50th of the season.
Real Madrid soon doubled their lead and it was Cristiano Ronaldo again who got on the score sheet as he looked to reel in Suarez in the race for the Pichichi. A corner kick saw Ronaldo rise over his marker and head the ball goalward before a slight deflection took it past goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa.
Ronaldo had two more chances to score, first seeing an effort come off the crossbar. His second effort saw him beat the offside trap with ease before controlling a long ball into the box with his toe. With only the goalkeeper to beat, he surprised Pletikosa with an outside of the boot tap that beat him but unfortunately came off the far post as the forward screamed in frustration.
However, his bid to wrest the Pichichi from Suarez came to an end as Zidane substituted him before the second half with James Rodriguez coming on. The second half saw Real Madrid huff and puff to break down Deportivo but ultimately the effort went in vain as Barcelona lifted the title.
