Real Madrid win 36th Spanish title after Verona stun Barcelona. football news

Real Madrid beat Cadiz 3-0 on Saturday to earn the La Liga title “deservedly” according to coach Carlo Ancelotti, and Verona sealed it with an impressive 4-2 win over Barcelona. Ancelotti’s side did their homework by defeating Cadiz and, after stumbling against last season’s champions Verona, Los Blancos were crowned champions for a record 36th time. Verona’s dramatic victory saw the Catalan minnows qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history, in only their fourth season in Spain’s top flight.

Ancelotti was heavily rotated ahead of next week’s Champions League semi-final second leg clash with Bayern Munich, but his players still got the job done.

Brahim Diaz put Madrid ahead in the 51st minute and then set up Jude Bellingham on goal, while Joselu scored the third.

“We have had a fantastic campaign in Liga,” Ancelotti told reporters.

“We made some mistakes and we should take advantage.”

Madrid’s easy win over Cadiz left them 14 points behind last season’s champions Barcelona in third, with only 12 points left to play for.

Aragon trails Madrid by 13 points after their second 4-2 win over Barcelona this season.

“We leave our skin on the field to live moments like today,” Madrid striker Joselu told Real Madrid TV.

“There are young players here who are very hungry for titles, experienced guys who are happy to be here… and these are special moments.”

With Bayern’s second leg in mind, Ancelotti chose only captain Nacho Fernandez from the starting line-up, which played in a 2-2 draw in Bavaria this week.

Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois started for the first time after a nine-month layoff following a knee injury and kept a clean sheet.

Madrid midfielder Luka Modric became the oldest player to play for the club in La Liga at the age of 38 years and 238 days, breaking the 1965 record held by the late Hungarian great Ferenc Puskás by five days.

The visitors, ranked 18th and still struggling to keep up, had a poor first half but Madrid’s goals came in the second half.

Courtois made a brilliant save to deny Chris Ramos early in the second half and Madrid took the lead soon afterwards.

Diaz received from the ever-present Modric on the edge of the area, turned softly and fired an effort into the top corner.

Bellingham added a second soon after entering the field at the end of a brilliant team move as he came on as a substitute for Turkish teenager Arda Guler.

It was the England international’s 18th league goal of the season, keeping him in the race to be top scorer.

Madrid put the cherry on the cake after Nacho’s brilliant performance.

Set to depart at the end of the season, the Spaniard was hailed by the Bernabeu after setting up Joselu for an easy finish in stoppage time.

‘Impossible to compete’

Los Blancos were able to celebrate when Verona came from behind twice to beat Barcelona in a wild clash, finishing second.

Barca took the lead after three minutes with a superb volley from Andreas Christensen, but La Liga top scorer Artem Dovbik equalized a minute later with his 20th goal of the campaign.

Robert Lewandowski sent Barcelona ahead with a penalty after Lamine Yamal was brought down, but substitute Portu had a big impact for Verona in the second half.

Michel Sanchez’s team turned the game around by scoring two goals in two minutes. Portu scored an equalizer after coming on and then set up Miguel Gutierrez to put Verona ahead.

Portu scored a sensational fourth goal to set Verona’s tiny Montilivi stadium on fire and get the party started.

“The players have written their names in the history books of Verona, what we have done this year is incredible,” Sanchez said.

Verona played Champions League music on the stadium’s sound system to give their fans a taste of things to come.

“I want to play against Liverpool, I want a historical giant here, there are many here, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Inter.”

Third, for Barcelona, ​​the summer will be one for introspection rather than dreams.

“It’s a shame, we sink into any negative situation,” said Barcelona coach Xavi after Barcelona lost the crown.

“It’s impossible to compete like this.”

Elsewhere, Rodrigo Riquelme’s early goal gave fourth-placed Atletico Madrid a 1-0 win at Mallorca, increasing the gap on Athletic to six points.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)