Barcelona only needed a draw to seal the title, but they were never going to settle for such a result. They wanted to show their superiority against their bitter rivals and that is exactly what happened.
Real Madrid are in turmoil and it only took 20 minutes for the result to be decided. Marcus Rashford curled a beautiful free-kick into the top corner past Thibaut Courtois to make it 1-0 after nine minutes and Ferran Torres made the points safe on 18 minutes.
Barca have been marching towards the title for the past few months, winning 10 league games in succession before El Clasico. By contrast, Real have been falling apart in dramatic fashion, internal tensions spilling over to derail an already disappointing season.
Alvaro Arbeloa has been unable to control the dressing room. Aurelian Tchouameni and Fede Valverde have clashed. Kylian Mbappe has become public enemy number one, with petitions launched to oust him, after he flew off to Sardinia with his girlfriend while out with a hamstring injury. And Los Blancos will end the campaign without a trophy.
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It’s got so bad that Real president Florentino Perez wants to bring Jose Mourinho back.
Such a backdrop could only really bring one result and after a moving minute’s silence to honour Hansi Flick’s father, who passed away in the hours before kick-off, Barcelona delivered.
Rashford double-bluffed Courtois, striking a perfect ball into the goalkeeper’s side to open the scoring. He now has 14 goals and 14 assists in 47 appearances this season since joining on loan from Manchester United – the kind of debut campaign only Luis Suarez can get close to in recent Barca history.
View 2 ImagesReal Madrid’s miserable campaign is nearly over(Image: Javier Borrego/Getty Images)
Torres doubled the home side’s lead when he read a knock-down from Dani Olmo, running away from a static Raul Asensio to smash past a helpless Courtois. Real looked every bit a team lacking unity and their top scorer.
Jude Bellingham – one of a record three Englishmen starting in El Clasico – thought he had pulled a goal back in the 63rd minute, but the flag went up for offside immediately, with replays showing Barca’s high defensive line had done its job effectively.
Barca are unbeaten at home in La Liga this season and Real never really looked like mounting a comeback as Flick felt comfortable enough to empty his substitutes’ bench. Trent Alexander-Arnold was booked for shoving Raphinha as tempers flared but that was the extent of Real’s fight as the title went to their rivals for the second straight season.
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