La Liga - Barca win Liga after Real lose

Eurosport - Sun, 17 May 08:50:00 2009

Barcelona were gifted their 19th La Liga title without kicking a ball on Saturday when second-placed Real Madrid were beaten 3-2 at Villarreal.

FOOTBALL Villarreal - Real Madrid 2008-2009 - 0

Robert Pires, Cani and Joan Capdevila scored for the hosts, delivering Barca's second piece of silverware in a week after the Catalans overcame Athletic Bilbao 4-1 in the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday.

Barca can make it a treble by defeating Manchester United in the Champions League final in Rome on May 27.

Real have 78 points and two games left, eight points shy of Barcelona who visit Real Mallorca on Sunday.

The visitors looked short on confidence and ideas at the Madrigal and fell behind when Pires headed home Ariel Ibagaza's cross in the 17th minute.

Real coach Juande Ramos threw on Gonzalo Higuain at half-time and the Argentine striker's first intervention was to cross low for Rafael van der Vaart to sidefoot the equaliser from close range.

Cani drove in at the near post to make it 2-1 and although Higuain levelled with two minutes to go, Capdevila pounced on a late fumble from keeper Iker Casillas to send Real to their third consecutive defeat.

Elsewhere, Sevilla and Deportivo Coruna's European aspirations were dented when they were both held to draws by sides fighting to avoid relegation.

Third-placed Sevilla were held to a 0-0 draw away to Osasuna with the Andalucians on the back foot for much of the game.

Both sides hit the crossbar and after Sevilla had Ndri Romaric sent off near the end, Osasuna defender Sergio Fernandez soon followed.

Sevilla move five points clear of fourth on to 64 points in their bid to secure the third automatic Champions League qualification place.

Deportivo remain sixth with 57 points after their striker Ivan Riki scored a late equaliser against his former club Getafe for a 1-1 home draw.

Roberto Soldado had headed the visitors in front just after the restart.

Getafe are 14th with 38 points, one more than Osasuna and four above the relegation zone.

Reuters

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  1. comment#60...
    your comment attracts my­ attention...
    first of all....why did fifa even want to­ make the 6+5 rule????because,just look at all ur so­ called great ENGLISH,yes,ENGLISH­ team....great....ENGLISH....but the players????are they­ even ENGLISH????they're from­ everywhere....but....in la liga....most of them are­ from spain....that is why we are original....barca­ couldnt score any goal against united....omg,are u­ kidding me???chelsea parked 2 buses at the back...but­ utd one better,one bus....if chelsea defended with 8­ men,then utd????they put 6 at the back....and that­ time,utd was on top form....and barca???their moral are­ low that time,shouldnt ur devil teach us a­ lesson????why not score 2 or 3 more goals when ur on­ topo form against a moral depleted team????....and they­ play without some of the first team players such as­ ronaldinho although deco played part of the match....i­ still remember,messi even raped the defenders at the­ right wing position....u dont believe go watch­ urself...im talking about facts,with evidence...and i­ should've said this at the 1st place,isnt this la­ liga section????and its about barca????why would u even­ click on this article if u arent concern about­ barca's strength????shoooosh back to ur english­ page!!!!

    From eevernc, on Sun 17 May 11:59AM

  2. I knew that there is no need for barca to kick the ball­ in the last four matches as real kingdom will handed it­ to them by their fantastic plays. best players got­ beaten in the last 3 games, the best goalkeeper in the­ world conceded 12 gaols in three matches, what a team­ REALMADRID. What mr Guardula has to do these days is to­ send only eto with the c class team to play the last 3­ matches in order to secure the pishishi for him and­ rest the others for man u clash in the 27th of may, we­ need to teach man u a lesson in football because we are­ the best and will continue the best. we fought for­ three title, we already got 2 and the third on the way.­ 100% barca blood will always win

    From ziads, on Sun 17 May 10:59AM

  3. comment 60. if epl is a better league overall, when did­ an english team win the uefa cup??and how on earth­ 2005-2006 season has to do with this year? remember­ when ufinished last in yor group? and no team can­ challenge barcelona play open game and win the game.­ your "superior" english teams had to park the­ bus to avoid himiliation.

    From Varnavas P, on Sun 17 May 10:37AM

  4. mike onyibe - I don't know what you've been­ watching or where you got your facts from, but Arsenal­ did not secure 4th place with 6 games to go? it was 3.­ Plus there have been relagation race with the bottom 12­ clubs for most of the season, it is only down to the­ bottom 4 clubs now with 1 game to go. You are obviously­ going to get English saying the EPL is better and the­ Spanish saying La liga is better, they both support­ their respective leagues. Each Leagues has it's­ strengths and weaknesses. As for EPL being more like­ rugby (as said by others) is a joke. Their is fast­ flowing passing footbal in the EPL by quite a few­ teams, everyone is just basing it on the Chelski game­ with barca, believe me that is not how the EPL plays­ it's football.

    From redimaster, on Sun 17 May 10:23AM

  5. Meaning of football is strike and the same time keep­ tight at the back not keep tight at the back when you­ are leading . So, I guess who said that EPL is­ interesting is not a true fan of football but a true­ fan of silverware . Yes , we want to win silverware ,­ but the main thing is football because this is about­ sport not about glamorous or money . If you are team­ that second div we understand because they need money­ to strenghten their squad but if you are like Man U ,­ Chelsea , i dun understand . Maybe Man U is stronger­ than Barcelona but you can not blame Barcelona because­ Barcelona decide to play interesting football than­ winning silverware , Man U only think about winning .­ But right now the most interesting league to watch is­ Bundesliga because so many can win the league .­ Barcelona is the strongest club I've ever seen­ because eventhough they in La Liga which is short of­ money than EPL but they still be on same level as the­ EPL club .

    From badboyz, on Sun 17 May 9:53AM

  6. any true fan of football easily would pick la liga over­ EPL the EPL football is closer to RUGBI than football

    From raed i, on Sun 17 May 8:53AM

  7. 59, good football is keeping ball fast and foward...­ ANd what is the most important, score!!! United will­ win Champs League...

    60.. Good comment...

    From Redzwan A, on Sun 17 May 6:38AM

  8. Forca Barca
    Man Untd is Next !!!!!

    From fayez a, on Sun 17 May 6:30AM

  9. People talking about La Liga being better than EPL­ knows nothing about fball.La Liga's second best has­ lost three successive games,EPL team eliminated­ Villarreal,Barca could only score once against an EPL­ team(chelsea) in the champions league(minus 3 penalties­ not given to chelsea),EPL team(ManU) is the current­ european & world champions.No la liga team has been­ in the champions league finals since 2005/2006 season­ and what makes u think Barca can even beat ManU in­ Rome?Just wait until that day. Barca are simply an over­ rate team who wants to do everything to avoid­ shame,chelsea almost showed them the way out. They live­ in the illussion that they play made in heaven­ football,dat on the seventh day after creation God­ rested while watchin Barca play.
    Last season Barca­ couldnot score a goal againt United. So close ur mouth­ with this sleak play @#$%.EPL is strong & the most­ exciting league in the world.

    From anthony, on Sun 17 May 6:25AM

  10. A good football and attacking play involving keeping­ possession and moving the ball around fast, does this­ exist in EPL? always you will say no. that is why­ chelsea keeping on kick out their coaches as there is­ no attractive football as their boss wants. In EPL­ it's about kicking the ball forward and run fast as­ CR, dive as Didier, I can say in EPL it's only­ Torres who has added a little value to EPL.
    Asu

    From asu s, on Sun 17 May 6:04AM

  11. PhilK,
    i can see ur face how is troubled to hear that­ barca the euro great club will face Man u in Roma,­ those score 5-1 4-1 are just coming from ur dirty and­ frustrated mind. just keep cool and wait to see a­ fabolous football from more than a club Barca.

    From asu s, on Sun 17 May 5:48AM

  12. surely 2009 is Barca"s Treble year.
    But what is­ more noteworthy about the strength of La Liga is that­ even with 2 games 2 go, 3rd and 4th places have yet to­ be decided. further, the bottom 6 sides are not clear­ as to who finally goes down so these 2 games make all­ the difference, and dats how its been most of the ­ current season. but see what happened in the EPL,­ Arsenal HAD SECURED 4TH PLACE 6 GAMES TO GO AND HAD­ SINCE dropped all ambitions to achieve hence its­ indifferent last 3 games. IN SPAIN, U CAN'T RELAX­ LIKE DAT.DAT IS THE REAL DEPTH OF SPAIN. Surely la LIGA­ is superior to the EPL AND THE result of May 27 will­ prove it.

    From mike onyibe, on Sun 17 May 5:15AM

  13. phil k
    YOU FEAR US... ON THE 27TH YOUR NIGHTMARE COMES­ TRUE WHEN EVEN IN AN ENGLISH LEAGUE THAT HAS ALL BUT­ ELIMINATED THE HANDICAP OF SECOND RATE ENGLISH PLAYERS,­ THAT IS ALL ENGLISH PLAYERS, YOU WILL SEE THAT YOU ARE­ STILL NOT THE BEST LEAGUE IN THE WORLD... THAT TITLE­ BELONGS TO LA LIGA, THE LEAGUE TO YOU, NEANDRATHAL.

    From DaGringo, on Sun 17 May 4:47AM

  14. Madrid really needs to revamp that­ squad..........
    Shame on them, but then again Villareal­ is on the ascendancy.....
    Congrats Barca.....

    From subomi, on Sun 17 May 4:30AM

  15. phil k
    YOU FEAR US... ON THE 27TH YOUR NIGHTMARE COMES­ TRUE WHEN EVEN IN AN ENGLISH LEAGUE THAT HAS ALL BUT­ ELIMINATED THE HANDICAP OF SECOND RATE ENGLISH PLAYERS

    From DaGringo, on Sun 17 May 4:20AM

  16. phil k
    YOU FEAR US... ON THE 27TH YOUR NIGHTMARE COMES­ TRUE WHEN EVEN IN AN ENGLISH LEAGUE THAT HAS ALL BUT­ ELIMINATED THE HANDICAP OF SECOND RATE ENGLISH PLAYERS

    From DaGringo, on Sun 17 May 4:07AM

  17. getachew44
    barca may be club bad, you definitely­ speller bad... may be you go board for own tongue...­ may you english BAAAADDDD...

    From DaGringo, on Sun 17 May 4:03AM

  18. phil k,
    so u were trying to say that Messi n Iniesta­ only good in la liga..? who is the current UCL top­ scorer..? there is none of man u players on the top­ ten, so i can say that even if he, Messi doesnt even­ kick the ball in finale, he'll stay as the top­ scorer.. ofcourse your CR7 can beat him IF he can score­ FIVE against Barca..LOL..!

    nevertheless, till the­ 27th.. chill n enjoy the party..! both Barca n man u­ have won the league, well Barca is still dry at home­ thou..!

    From carlamms, on Sun 17 May 3:40AM

  19. THOTS AL YEES UR GOAN TAY WAN CAZ YEES UR NAY GOAN TAY­ BE GEETAN YAR PAWS AN THON CHOMPIANS LEEGUE.

    From donneysbeck, on Sun 17 May 3:12AM

  20. we are still dry and at home & yet WE ARE THE­ CHAMPION..!
    LIVE WITH THAT ALL MADRID CABRON..!

    btw­ Eto'o hates madrid alot, Iniesta, Messi, Xavi are­ all living with blaugana blood..! Toure..? he's so­ much at home now.. u can try get his brother instead..!­ so keep on dreaming for them to jumping to the sinking­ ship..! you can have Fabregas, after all he'll find­ hard to get 1st eleven if he rejoin Barca.. or u can­ have Eidur for free just like u got Saviola so that u­ can claim that u have Barca player..!! hahaha

    VISCA EL­ BARCA..!!

    From carlamms, on Sun 17 May 2:32AM
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