La Liga Lowdown, Jornada 36: Barcelona crowned champions

Yes, with two games to spare, week 36 witnessed the inevitable as FC Barcelona wrapped up the title – their third in three years. The point earned against Levante was enough for the Catalans to clinch the title, leaving rivals Real Madrid six points behind them.

It has been an incredible season for Pep Guardiola and his team, who throughout the course of the campaign have been labelled the ‘greatest team ever’ by many – and they certainly have a good case for it. Stunning performances, broken records, this season has had it all.

There have been several memorable moments, but one in particular stood out and will be remembered for years to come, and that is the 5-0 humiliation of Real Madrid in last year’s El Clásico. It was one of the best team performances ever seen. Barcelona were brilliant in every aspect – the speed, technique and intensity was like nothing seen before in a game of such magnitude, and Madrid couldn’t cope. It was, as José Mourinho later commented, a “historically bad result” for them.

It was a giant step towards the title so early on, but they still had plenty of games remaining. The Catalans managed to remain consistent throughout the course of the season, losing only twice, most notably at home to Hércules. Up until the winter break, Barça were magnificent, putting in one supreme showing after another. It was looking like there was only going to be one winner, despite the best efforts of Villarreal (who dropped off badly) and of course Real Madrid.

Things got tougher after Christmas and the winter break though, and what appeared to be fatigue set in – no surprise considering the amount of games they’ve played over the last two years, coupled with the high intensity with which they play them at. Added to that, with the way in which the players are conditioned, a dip was inevitable. That dip started to become apparent around February time, and the performances started to drop. As Guardiola said: “We’ve been tremendous for three-quarters of the season, but in the last quarter we struggled to score goals.”

Big-money summer signing David Villa has struggled at times, and their other main attacker, Pedro, hasn’t been in the greatest form either. Luckily for Guardiola, he has Lionel Messi. Playing in a more central role the Argentinian has had yet another outstanding campaign, racking up 31 league goals and 19 assists so far. Great for them, but they will want to avoid relying on Messi too much next season.

But despite the drop-off in goals, the criticism of their style, the loss of Eric Abidal with a liver tumour and the constant pressure in the media, Barcelona kept it going and were strong enough to stay top – a place they had been since week 13. It has to go down as a great achievement for Guardiola and his players. “Winning the league has been extremely tough and we are very pleased,” said the coach after the Levante game.

And, the league may be over, but the season is far from finished. Barcelona still have one more important game to go – the Champions League final against Manchester United at the end of the month. If they can win that, it will be Guardiola’s second European Cup win in three years – an astonishing achievement for a man whose only experience prior to this job was as a reserve team coach.

Lower down the Lowdown

• Real Madrid hammered city rivals Getafe, leaving them on the brink of going down. Cristiano Ronaldo, on his quest to win the Pichichi title for most goals, grabbed yet another hat-trick – his sixth of the season in fact. Those three take him to the rather ridiculous total of 36 goals in 32 league games this season, and 62 in 61 since joining Madrid.
• The game of the round came at the Reyno de Navarra, as Osasuna came from two goals down to beat Sevilla 3-2. Álvaro Negredo had put Sevilla into a comfortable lead until Kike Sola, a man reinvigorated under José Luis Mendilibar, struck back with a brace of his own. Then, in the last minute of the game, Dejan Lekic scored a vital winner, sending everyone inside the ground bonkers and earning a valuable three points for his team.
• Another big result at the bottom came at La Rosaleda, as in-form Málaga beat Sporting Gijón. The hero once again? Júlio ‘the beast’ Baptista. The Brazilian has now scored in his last six consecutive games, almost single-handedly ensuring Málaga’s top-flight safety.
• Racing Santander finally secured their place in La Liga, thanks again to Swedish double-act Kennedy and Markus Rosenberg. The result moved the Cantabrians up to 9^th position, to the magic 46 point mark. Credit to Marcelino García Toral who has done a fine job since being re-appointed at El Sardinero.
• It’s far from over at the bottom though. Almería and Hércules are down, but incredibly, one of NINE teams could still join them. There are just six points between Zaragoza in 18^th and Málaga all the way up in 10^th, so mathematically any one of them could still be relegated. It’s shaping up to be an exciting last two rounds that’s for sure.

Results

Deportivo 2-1 Athletic, Málaga 2-0 Sporting, Racing 2-1 Atlético, Real Madrid 4-0 Getafe, Real Sociedad 2-1 Zaragoza, Osasuna 3-2 Sevilla, Espanyol 2-2 Valencia, Hércules 2-2 Mallorca, Almería 0-0 Villarreal, Levante 1-1 Barcelona.

Goal of the Week

Seydou Keita (Levante 1-1 Barcelona)

FC Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Spanish Primera Division