Campeones! Los Blancos secure 35th La Liga title in style
Real Madrid won the 35th La Liga title in the club’s history, as a Rodrygo double in a dominant 4-0 victory over Espanyol at the Santiago Bernabéu fired ‘Los Blancos’ to the Spanish title in style.
This match provided the challenge of a juggling act to Carlo Ancelotti. On the one hand the title could be clinched with only one point required, but on the other there was a one-goal deficit to overturn against Manchester City in their UEFA Champions League (UCL) semi-final second leg on Wednesday. He was already without Éder Militão and Nacho Fernandez due to domestic suspensions, but Ancelotti put faith in his squad as he made eight changes from the side that started the first leg against City.
Whilst Espanyol may have secretly not had any qualms being the side that helped mathematically end their city rivals Barcelona’s slim chances of catching ‘Los Blancos’, there was the opportunity to complete a first league double over their opponents since 1995/96. Raúl de Tomas showed their intentions early on with the first effort on target from either side, stinging the gloves of Thibaut Courtois from distance.
But despite their heavy rotation the hosts still possessed the greater quality, and earned a two-goal lead before HT. Rodrygo scored both, his first from inside the box following smart link up play with fellow Brazilian Marcelo, and his second a result of Mariano Díaz’s intelligence to press Yangel Herrera on the edge of the box, which allowed the Brazilian the chance to fire through Sergi Gómez’s legs into the bottom left corner.
The 'Budgerigars’ emerged the stronger of the two sides in the second half and mounted pressure in hopes of getting back into the game, but all hopes of that were dashed in a controversial 55th-minute run of play. Aleix Vidal believed he was fouled when attempting to hurdle a sliding challenge from Casemiro in the box, and from the tackle came a counter attack that was finished off by Marco Asensio. Karim Benzema got some important minutes in the tank late on, and crowned the title winning performance with a first-time finish from Vinicius Junior’s lay-off.
Real hit the jackpot from Ancelotti’s gamble, who becomes the first manager to win league titles in each of Europe’s ‘big five’ domestic competitions, and just as importantly their squad remains in prime condition ahead of a monumental task on Wednesday night, with sights on a shot at another piece of silverware this campaign.
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