Barcelona clinch LaLiga title with El Clasico win over rivals Real Madrid

Barcelona's Marcus Rashford celebrates scoring their first goal

Barcelona clinched their 29th La Liga title with a 2-0 victory over arch-rivals Real Madrid on a bittersweet night for manager Hansi Flick, whose father passed away hours before the Spanish crown was decided in an El Clasico for only the second time ever.

Los Blancos midfielder Aur9lien Tchouam9ni kept his place in the starting line-up despite his training-ground fracas with team-mate Federico Valverde in midweek, which saw the latter taken to hospital with a head injury and both players fined €500,000.

And Real started with the intent of a side who knew they had to win to delay Barcelona’s title celebrations, but they went behind after just nine minutes, when Marcus Rashford curled a brilliant free-kick into the top corner from the edge of the box, taking his goal tally for the campaign to 14.

Barcelona's Marcus Rashford celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates

In contrast to the impeccably-observed minute’s silence prior to the game, the party was in full flow by the time Ferran Torres made it 2-0 after 18 minutes, as he latched onto Dani Olmo’s deft flick and finished coolly for his 12th first-half goal in La Liga this term.

Real looked for an instant response and Gonzalo GarcDa hit the side-netting when put through one-on-one, before Rashford was denied by Thibaut Courtois from a similar opportunity.

Barcelona's Ferran Torres celebrates scoring their second goal

Bar7a looked in the mood to deliver a crushing defeat to their rivals when they came out for the second half, and tempers soon flared as players from both sides piled into the game’s first flashpoint, which ended with bookings for RaFAl Asencio and Dani Olmo.

Courtois then made an excellent save with his legs to thwart Torres one-on-one, and Real’s frustrations only grew when Jude Bellingham saw a goal ruled out for offside just after the hour mark.

With 20 minutes remaining, the home fans were already singing Campeones and cheering every Bar7a pass, before Courtois made late saves from Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski as the substitutes looked to put the icing on the cake.

Match stats

Real pushed for a goal to dampen the festivities, but they were unable to find one as they fell to a defeat that condemns the club to only their second trophyless campaign since 2009/10.

For Barcelona, the celebrations are only just getting started after an 11th successive league victory and 18th LaLiga win out of 18 at home this season saw them seal back-to-back titles.

Flick’s men are now 14 points clear with three games to play and can still break their own record for the biggest title-winning margin in LaLiga history (15 points).

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