Barcelona Win La Liga: The Spanish Giants’ 24th League Title

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Barcelona have won the 2015/16 La Liga title. In a tense final game that they absolutely had to win, Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick to give the Catalans a 3-0 victory over Granada. As a result, arch-rivals Real Madrid, who were just one point behind them, were limited to second position.

Thanks to the team!
???? #CampionsFCB https://t.co/tHDCRZflbM

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 14, 2016

Barcelona have 91 points while their arch-rivals Real Madrid have 90. The Catalans were able to outdo their arch-rivals by a point in a tense deadline day finish to the league. This is their 24th league title. In terms of number of titles won, they are second only to Real Madrid who have won it 32 times. This is also Barcelona’s second consecutive league title and the Spanish Giants have won six of the last eight titles. Atletico Madrid, who were out of the title race following a defeat to Levante last week, finished third with 88 points.

With his latest hat-trick, Luis Suarez has become the top scorer this season with 40 goals to his name. After trailing Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo all season, the Uruguayan overtook CR7 following a brilliant spell in the last few games. And with this he has secured a Pichichi, an award given to the highest scorer in the league. This is the first time someone other than Ronaldo or Messi — arguably two of the world’s and history’s best football players — has won the Pichichi since the 2008/09 season. Suarez has also become the top scoring Uruguayan for Barcelona after just two seasons with the club.

Vamossssssssss, Campeones!!!!!!!

Come onnnn, Champions!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/4P4zqrnOKT

— Luis Suarez (@LuisSuarez9) May 14, 2016

Real Madrid won against Deportivo La Coruna, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice before being subbed off at half time, making his league total for the Season 35. And despite Real Madrid being denied the title, and Ronaldo the Pichichi, the Portuguese forward set a new record last night. He is the first player in history to score 50 or more goals in six consecutive seasons. And of course, he could score more with the UEFA Champions League final in Milan approaching close.

Barcelona manager Luis Enrique seemed proud of his team.

“It was a deserved title which shows that the team knows how to bounce back from a bad spell. We played very well over the full season, we were on top of the table for many weeks and the most consistent team wins the title.”

Zinedine Zidane, who has been the manager of Real Madrid since the sacking of Rafael Benitez in January, has won 21 of his 26 games in charge. “We’re all disappointed, but with 38 match days played, we can’t change anything now,” he said. “Barcelona deserved to win La Liga,” he added.

But many would still argue that this has been an underwhelming season for Barcelona. Such has been their dominance. Not just the league, they were heavily tipped to win the treble for a second year in a row. And they were also expected to secure the La Liga title sooner. They held the top position in March and were clear favorites to win the title with an 11-point lead over 2nd position Atletico Madrid and a 12-point lead over Real Madrid. However, they suffered a torrid loss of form towards the end of March, and by mid-April they had not only blown themselves out of the Champions League, but had also lost three league games in a row for the first time in 13 years. This saw them equal points with Atletico and lead Real Madrid by just one. But they have made a brilliant comeback, having scored 24 goals in their last five matches, with Luiz Suarez netting 14 of those.

Barcelona now have their eyes on the Copa Del Rey. They play Sevilla in the final on May 22.

[Photo by Daniel Tejedor/AP Images]