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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
John Brewin

Espanyol 2-4 Barcelona: Barça win La Liga – as it happened

FC Barcelona Espanyol La Liga Liga Sergio Busquets Elche Getafe Mubadala Real Madrid UEFA Champions League
The Barcelona players celebrate winning La Liga at the final whistle.
The Barcelona players celebrate winning La Liga at the final whistle. Photograph: David Ramos/Getty Images

Here’s the table that confirms Barcelona as champions. And Espanyol in trouble.

Pos Team P GD Pts
1 Barcelona 34 51 85
2 Real Madrid 34 38 71
3 Atletico Madrid 34 33 69
4 Real Sociedad 34 14 62
5 Villarreal 34 17 57
6 Real Betis 33 3 52
7 Girona 34 6 48
8 Athletic Bilbao 34 6 47
9 Osasuna 34 -4 47
10 Sevilla 34 -5 47
11 Rayo Vallecano 33 -2 46
12 Mallorca 34 -4 44
13 Celta Vigo 34 -9 39
14 Valencia 34 -3 37
15 Almeria 34 -18 36
16 Cadiz 34 -24 35
17 Valladolid 34 -30 35
18 Getafe 34 -13 34
19 Espanyol 34 -18 31
20 Elche 34 -38 19

And here’s the speedy exodus to the dressing rooms.

These celebrations did not last long on the pitch.

Social media is here.

Barcelona players celebrate….and then things get nasty….they are chased down the tunnel as some of Espanyol’s fans make their way to the field….

Full-time: Espanyol 2-4 Barcelona

No Barca fans there tonight but the players celebrate before the final whistle. A first title under Xavi, a first since Messi departed, and all amid the crisis that engulfs Barca. The party can begin across most of the city, whereas Espanyol look in deep trouble.

Goal! Espanyol 2-4 Barcelona (Joselu, (90+2)

That’s a late consolation….

90 min: There will be two minutes left of the La Liga title race…

88 min: Dembele speeds away, and then cuts the ball back. Lewandowski swings a leg and misses. He’d be some player if he had a left foot…

85 min: Fati is on, and sets up Lewandowski, who then runs into a wall of Espanyol muscle. Then Lewandowski just fails to reach an Alba cross.

84 min: Lewandowski really wants that hat-trick, and he won’t get it this way. The ball is crashed somewhere into downtown Barcelona.

82 min: Long hoof out of defence by Barcelona; it’s got that that stage, even if it shouldn’t really be afraid of anything.

79 min: Good atmosphere here, too. Barcelona are well ahead but need to right themselves to make this last ten minutes without drama.

77 min: Lewandowski goes close…he’s seeking a first Liga hat-trick.

76 min: Joselu flashes one wide, where was this Espanyol before…off go Barca….Dembele is offside now…and then Joselu has another shot. A derby game has broken out at 4-1.

Goal! Espanyol 1-4 Barcelona (Puado 73)

Long ball bisects the Barca defence and Puado lobs Ter Stegen. That means Ter Stegen must wait for that clean sheet record, only the 12th goal conceded all season. VAR didn’t seem to want to award it but he was miles onside.

72 min: Here’s the goals, via Viaplay.

69 min: It almost feels as if Barca have decided to shut up shop to protect Ter Stegen but he does his best to bail himself out when Puado is allowed space by Jordi Alba. A fine save is made with his feet.

66 min: Ter Stegen is closing in on a record run of clean sheets, having already broken the record of Manchester City legend Claudio Bravo of 23 games last month.

63 min: Barcelona subs: Raphina off, Dembele on, and Jordi Alba has come in, for Araujo.

62 min: Some good pics of Espanyol fans, one with a scarf over her face, another fan on a house-brick mobile looking anguished.

60 min: There could be 30 minutes of olé football to come here.

59 min: Barcelona settle into the passing style that is the club’s trademark. Espanyol sit back in numbers.

57 min: Espanyol appear reluctant to get going again, perhaps fearing stepping out to let their opponents score.

55 min: There’s a long time to go in this game, and the home fans are restless and angry. It’s been too easy, not enough resistance.

Goal! Espanyol 0-4 Barcelona (Koundé, 53)

De Jong chips the ball through and Kounde angles his header into the goal. That’s his first Barca goal, quite a night to do it. Espanyol’s players have taken to arguing with each other.

50 min: Araujo hooks the ball out to jeers. We are reminded that Lewandowksi is collecting his ninth title in a row. The last time he didn’t get one was with Dortmund under Klopp, having won the previous two there, too.

48 min: Joselu has a dig at goal, Aranjo for company meaning he can’t keep the shot down.

46 min: We are back underway, and there’s an atmosphere of rebellion taking place behind the goals. Two Espanyol subs, including the departure of Arsenal legend Denis Suarez.

Half-time: Espanyol 0-3 Barcelona

Lewandowski has borne criticism of late, but his goals have fired his club to the brink of the title, even if Alejandro Balde, with a goal and assist has been the outstanding player on the field.

45+1 min: Espanyol attack…Braithwaite has a shot blocked…and that’s the half.

45 min: Some VAR tomfoolery when Raphina again has an Espanyol defender handballing it, only for a yellow card to wave.

44 min: A glimpse of the home fans suggests all is not well. They came in hope that’s been extinguished.

43 min: De Jong, the heir apparent to the Busquets role, shows something of the old master in racing back to make a challenge and clear the danger.

41 min: Barcelona invited on Espanyol there, made them press and then picked up the pieces to counter.

Goal! Espanyol 0-3 Barcelona (Lewandowski, 40)

Busquets wins possession in classic style, De Jong plays in Raphina and the ball across goal is knocked in by Lewandowski.

36 min: Raphina is sent away and then claims a handball off a defender. He had a case, too.

34 min: Espanyol get a corner, aimed for their forwards, but Ter Stegen claims it with some comfort. Luis Garcia is not amused by such wastefulness.

32 min: Barcelona have not been able to thread it around, Espanyol are kicking everything that moves.

28 min: This is a procession but a rather bad-tempered procession. Oscar Gil makes a run to the right flank, and chips up the ball but no Braithwaite or Joselu there. Instead, it’s Nico, rather too short to get over the ball.

26 min: It’s all Barcelona and Espanyol are looking for other percentages, with Joseul and Aranjo getting tangled.

24 min: It is almost three when Lewandowski smashes across goal and Raphina can’t get to the ball.

21 min: Espanyol fans stage a 21st minute applause for Dani Jarque, who died in 2009.

Goal! Espanyol 0-2 Barcelona (Balde, 20)

The teenager who set up the opener gets his own goal, the first for his club. Pedri this time scampers to the byline and Balde shows real power in forcing it home.

18 min: Braithwaite blams a shot high and wide.

17 min: Barcelona have been a tad ragged since their goal. Espanyol have been muscular and Kounde, already booked, looks to bring down Braithwaite but had actually pulled out of the tackle.

15 min: Xavi looks annoyed. He often looks annoyed.

13 min: That was rather too easy, Balde found by Aranjo and the Pole knew where to head. At the other end, Braithwaite, once of Barca himself, gets involved. Joselu played for Newcastle, his partner played for Boro. How often has that happened in La Liga, a pairing of North East legends?

Goal! Espanyol 0-1 Barcelona (Lewandowski, 11)

Lewan-goal-ski hits his 20th of the season, as a diag finds Balde, who head to the byline, and in in comes the Pole to direct in.

10 min: Joselu, the St James’ Park godhead, is the target for another long ball. Espanyol’s attack is more…direct.

8 min: Barcelona have not lost here – ever – or away at Espanyol since 2006-7, before the Guardiola years began, late-period Rijkaard.

6 min: After those early skirmishes, there’s the usual interchange of passes, and the ball falls to Pedri, on the edge of the box, goal gaping. He misses and Xavi is not amused.

4 min: An early booking, for Jules Kounde, for bloodying the nose of Olivan and then Buquets is on the end of a hack. No such thing as a happy farewell gift. Some noise from the home fans.

1 min: And away we go…and quickly, with a long ball to Joselu that’s thwacked wide. IT was offside anyway but perhaps a little warning that Espanyol will go direct.

The teams take to the field at the rather snazzy Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, which is a sea of blue and white. Barca will have to get past a team – and support – fighting for their lives.

Elsewhere in Europe, shocking scenes continue in Dutch football.

Spanish football news this weekend.

Marco Asensio’s goal earned Real Madrid a 1-0 victory over lowly Getafe in La Liga as they rested key players before their Champions League semi-final against Manchester City on Wednesday. The win lifted Real to 71 points, two ahead of Atlético who play at bottom side Elche on Sunday but 11 behind leaders Barcelona.

Meanwhile Real have lost a €400m (£350m) court battle with the Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala over the proposed sponsorship of the Santiago Bernabéu, sources with knowledge of the case have told Reuters.

Madrid had claimed the money because it said Mubadala had failed to honour a sponsorship deal under which it would acquire rights to name the stadium for 20 years. An arbitral tribunal under the court of international trade in Paris has ruled that delays and changes in the redevelopment of the ground meant the sponsorship deal had expired, the source told Reuters.

On the last of the giants, Sergio Busquets, by Sid Lowe.

Those lineups in non social-media form.

Espanyol (5-3-2): Pacheco; Gil, Montes, Gomez, Cabrera, Olivan; Suarez, Darder, Nico; Braithwaite, Joselu

Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; F de Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Gavi

Updated

The teams

Preamble

What a place to win the Liga title for Barça who have dominated the league this season despite their Champions League and financial/admin issues. A first title since Lionel Messi can be celebrated tonight, and seems a fait accompli even if they lose their local derby. The changing of the guard that a club being asked to wash its face financially continues, with Sergio Busquets announcing this week he will be walking away from the club he helped define – Saudi Arabia is the expected destination. Asked to make swingeing cuts to their budget and yet to sort out their backstage disarray, this could be the last title for a while, unless Xavi is the genius manager he was always expected to be, and his young team can grow together. That talk is for post-match; let’s see if they complete the job tonight. Another prize on offer tonight is the possibility to send Espanyol down to the Segunda; they’re currently four points shy of safety.

Pos Team P GD Pts
1 Barcelona 33 49 82
2 Real Madrid 34 38 71
3 Atletico Madrid 34 33 69
4 Real Sociedad 34 14 62
5 Villarreal 34 17 57
6 Real Betis 33 3 52
7 Girona 34 6 48
8 Athletic Bilbao 34 6 47
9 Osasuna 34 -4 47
10 Rayo Vallecano 33 -2 46
11 Sevilla 33 -8 44
12 Mallorca 34 -4 44
13 Celta Vigo 34 -9 39
14 Valencia 34 -3 37
15 Almeria 34 -18 36
16 Cadiz 34 -24 35
17 Valladolid 33 -27 35
18 Getafe 34 -13 34
19 Espanyol 33 -16 31
20 Elche 34 -38 19
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