Los Blancos thrashed Espanyol to reclaim the Spanish crown. Rodrygo scored twice while Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema added a goal each. Elsewhere, last year’s champions, Atletico Madrid, are facing the risk of finishing outside of the UEFA Champions League places.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side needed just a point at home to Espanyol to win the league title, their 35th. However, Los Blancos did better than that – a resounding 4-0 thumping of the Barcelona-based side ensured that they won the trophy in style.
Rodrygo Goes opened the scoring in the 33rd minute after Mariano Diaz had hit the post earlier from close range, Ancelotti opting to go with his second-string side to rest players for the crucial upcoming UEFA Champions League semifinals second leg against Manchester City.
The Brazilian repaid Ancelotti’s faith by firing a low shot past ex-Real player Diego Lopez in goal after collecting an inventive reverse pass from Marcelo. The youngster doubled his side’s lead before halftime, too, with another low drive – this time from outside the box and to the near post.
A perfectly-weighted pass from Eduardo Camavinga allowed Marco Asensio to get in behind Espanyol’s defensive line and fire his side’s third goal in the 55th minute. Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr came off the bench to combine for the fourth in the 81st minute – supplied by the latter and finished by the former.
Real Madrid’s title win had seemed inevitable since early January despite a late challenge from FC Barcelona. Ancelotti kept the ship steady, though, and, in doing so, became the only manager to have won the domestic title in all of Europe’s top five leagues.
Elsewhere, the misery last year’s champions Atletico must have felt upon seeing the title transfer to their city rivals was compounded by a 2-0 loss to Athletic Club. The Basque side scored a goal early on in both halves – a Mario Hermoso own goal in the first and an Inaki Williams penalty in the second – to leave Atleti at risk of falling out of the top four.
Diego Simeone’s side may have to defend a one-point lead going into the final four games of the season if Real Betis win their game in hand.
