Real beat Bilbao to bag 32nd La Liga title
Reuters - Wednesday 02 May 2012, 23:01
Winning the title in four major
European nations might never be repeated and the fact Real
Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has overcome the great Barcelona to
achieve the feat makes his success even more remarkable.
Real, who have smashed the La Liga scoring record, clinched
their 32nd league crown and their first in four years when
Gonzalo Higuain, Mesut Ozil and Cristiano Ronaldo struck in a
frenetic 3-0 win at 10-man Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday.
It went some way to easing their pain after a defeat on
penalties to Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals
last week.
Lionel Messi's record-breaking hat-trick in Barcelona's 4-1
victory at home to Malaga in the earlier kick-off had kept alive
Catalan hopes of catching their bitter rivals but Real swept
Europa League finalists Bilbao aside.
They have a seven-point lead with only two games left.
Mourinho becomes the first man to win league titles in his
native Portugal (Porto), England (Chelsea), Italy (Inter
Milan)and Spain and has ended Barca's three-year stranglehold on
the title, the club where he was an assistant coach in the
1990s.
"It has been a very long and hard season but we have taken a
step forward in terms of quality compared to last year," Real
captain Iker Casillas said in a television interview.
"It was tough to end Barca's run as this is a new project
and we are a young squad but I think we already improved last
year and even more so this year," added the Spain goalkeeper, as
his team mates celebrated wildly on the pitch nearby.
Real have only lost twice all season, 1-0 at Levante and 3-1
at home to Barca, and have amassed a record 115 goals with 30
conceded.
Their success has been largely down to the awesome firepower
of their front line, with Ronaldo racking up 44 goals, Higuain
netting 22 and Karim Benzema 20, the first time three players
from the same club have passed the 20 mark.
Mourinho also gave an expensively-assembled group of players
the self-belief that allowed them to get the better of Barca,
widely regarded as one of the best teams of all time.
Barca's home form let them down and they dropped 16 points
on their travels to Real's seven before a 2-1 defeat by Real in
the 'Clasico' at the Nou Camp last month effectively ended their
title bid.
"We are very happy after winning a very closely-fought
championship against a very strong Barcelona," defender Sergio
Ramos said.
"Madrid deserve the title and we dedicate it to all the
fans."
BLISTERING START
The match at the San Mames got off to a blistering start,
with both sides pouring forward in search of a goal.
Real should have been ahead in the 12th minute when the
referee ruled Javi Martinez had handled the ball in the area and
awarded a penalty.
Ronaldo, who missed a spot-kick in the Champions League
semi-final shootout against victorious Bayern Munich last week,
attempted a dinked shot down the middle of the goal and
goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz diverted the ball over the bar.
It was the first time the Portuguese had fluffed a penalty
in La Liga in 12 attempts since joining for a record fee from
Manchester United in 2009 and drew howls of derision from the
Bilbao faithful.
Real were ahead four minutes later, however, when Ozil
picked out Higuain on the edge of the area and the Argentina
forward smashed a shot into the top corner.
They doubled their lead in the 20th minute when Ronaldo made
amends for his penalty miss with a superb pass into the path of
Ozil and the German international sidefooted past Iraizoz.
Their third came five minutes into the second half when
Ronaldo was left unmarked at a corner and he nodded home. It was
the Portuguese's 44th league goal of the season leaving him two
behind record La Liga top scorer Messi.
Bilbao, who play La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid in the
Europa League final on May 9, were twice denied by the crossbar
in the second half before Martinez was booked for a second
handball and sent off.
As the Real players flung Mourinho in the air on the San
Mames pitch, thousands of Real fans already gathered at the
Cibeles fountain in the capital began celebrating the end of
four years of disappointment.
DETHRONED CHAMPIONS
At the Nou Camp, home of the dethroned champions, Messi's
treble made him the first man to score 68 goals in a season for
a European top-flight club, breaking the record of 67 set by
former Bayern striker Gerd Muller in 1972/73.
After the home fans paid warm tribute to coach Pep
Guardiola, who announced on Friday he was stepping down at the
end of the season, captain Carles Puyol volleyed Barca ahead in
the 13th minute.
Salomon Rondon levelled with a glancing header in the 26th
before Andres Iniesta was felled on the edge of the penalty area
and Messi stroked in the spot-kick.
The 24-year-old scored a second penalty, which he won
himself, in the 59th minute and was played clear by Iniesta five
minutes later before dinking the ball over Malaga goalkeeper
Carlos Kameni and sliding it into the empty net.
Defeat for Malaga dents their chances of overhauling
third-placed Valencia and clinching Spain's third automatic
place in next season's Champions League.
Valencia pulled three clear with a thumping 4-0 win at home
to Osasuna with the visitors having Dejan Lekic sent off after
he clashed with Adil Rami as the players were leaving the pitch
at half-time.
Atletico Madrid's hopes of a lucrative place in next
season's Champions League were dealt a huge blow when they had
Gabi sent off and conceded a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw at
home to Real Sociedad.