BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona sealed the LaLiga title in the sweetest way possible against Clásico rivals Real Madrid on Sunday as goals from Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres earned a 2-0 victory at Spotify Camp Nou.
The party began early as Barça, needing just a point to clinch the championship, took the lead after nine minutes through a pinpoint free kick from Rashford.
Torres added the second in the 18th minute after a brilliant knockdown from Dani Olmo, and the “Olés” began soon after as Barça moved 14 points clear of Madrid with just three games to play.
It is the first time the Catalans have mathematically won LaLiga courtesy of a result in the Clásico in the league’s 96-year history (it had previously happened once before in this fixture, with Madrid winning LaLiga in 1932 after a 2-2 draw against Barça).
Madrid, after a difficult week of infighting, would have been forgiven for downing tools after receiving two early blows, but they fought until the end. Gonzalo García hit the side netting, and Jude Bellingham had a goal ruled out for offside, but it was not their day.
Barça could have scored more, in fact. Thibaut Courtois made good saves from Rashford, Torres, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski, but two were all Barça needed on a night that will be forever remembered as the night they won the league against Madrid. — Sam Marsden
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Difficult day for Flick, quite the title for the team
Hansi Flick becomes the first coach to seal back-to-back LaLiga titles since Ernesto Valverde won consecutive titles with Barça in 2018 and 2019. It came on a day of contrasting emotions for the German coach, though, after the death of his father over the weekend.
He communicated the news to the club and the players on Sunday, hours before the Clásico, and made the decision to remain in the dugout for the game. It would have been strange — if understandable — to see Barça wrap up top spot without him on the sideline. Barça’s triumph is as much about him as it is about any of the players.
Tears swelled in his eyes as a minute’s silence was held before the game for his dad. The affection the players have for him could be seen as they celebrated both goals with him, too. And, seconds after the final whistle, as the players chucked him in the air and the chants of “Champions!” quieted down, it was Flick’s name that rang around the stadium.
In two years, he has completely changed the mood around the club. This was another Clásico victory, taking his tally to six wins and just one defeat in seven meetings since taking charge. — Marsden
Real Madrid’s awful end to an awful week
Have Real Madrid had a worse week than this? After the depth of their dressing room division was exposed by Aurélien Tchouaméni and Federico Valverde‘s training ground bust-up, there were 90 more minutes of evidence that this project needs radical change, from top to bottom.
Madrid’s season was effectively over long before kickoff at Camp Nou. Frankly, the team gave the impression of not wanting to be here, of going through the motions. There was no urgency or intensity, and after Rashford’s opening goal, there was no feeling, at any point, that a Madrid comeback was possible.
There were some mitigating factors: no Kylian Mbappé, no Valverde, no Éder Militão, and Dean Huijsen was injured in the warmup. But this was a Madrid XI that still featured a strong spine of Vinícius Júnior, Bellingham, Tchouaméni, Antonio Rüdiger and a back-from-injury Courtois.
And they didn’t come close to competing with a Barcelona side that was also missing some of its biggest stars. If it weren’t for Courtois’ saves, the scoreline might have been overwhelming. There was no good outcome here for Madrid. The gap between them and Barcelona at the top of the table was already insurmountable.
Even a victory would only have delayed Barça’s title party. But a gutsy, against-the-odds performance and result — even a draw — might have sent a message that Madrid’s players have recognized the scale of the failure this season and are already working on making amends. Instead, this was more like a surrender. — Alex Kirkland
No Mbappé leaves Madrid toothless in attack
Mbappé’s exclusion from the matchday squad on the day of the game was something of a surprise, given that he had returned to training early this week.
Even if not fully fit, he might have been expected to take his place on the bench, ready to make a limited contribution if necessary — just as he has at other times in big games this season, such as the Spanish Supercopa final.
Instead, his only contribution was to post a supportive “Hala Madrid” message on Instagram — confirming at least that he was watching the game on television — with the team already 2-0 down.
In his place though, was Gonzalo García, who has been nearly discarded these past few months and worked hard to limited effect. In 79 minutes on the pitch, he had 17 touches, completed seven of eight attempted passes and had two shots, putting his best chance wide in the first half. Alongside García, Vinícius had his moments.
Only a last-ditch Eric García block prevented the Brazil forward from getting a far-post tap-in after 23 minutes. In the second half, in on goal, he was denied by Joan García.
The attacking player who looked most determined to make something happen was Brahim Díaz, who never stopped running before being substituted late on. But even for Diaz, there was no end product.
Madrid ended the game with just one “big chance” created — for Garcia — and an xG (expected goals) of 0.79. For all his flaws, it was hard to escape the feeling that Madrid would have had more chance of getting something from the game with Mbappé on the pitch. — Kirkland
Barça perform well without major stars
This win illustrated the Flick impact perfectly. Barça were without any of the front three who made them a must-watch last season. Yamal is injured, Raphinha came on in the second half to make his first appearance since March after recovering from a hamstring problem, and Torres was preferred to Lewandowski.
Yet Barça, especially early on, still played with that unforgettable Flick style. Fresh from a week off, they pressed hard and defended high, reaping the rewards. It does not always guarantee results — the UEFA Champions League challenge remains — but domestically, they have been dominant.
That is thanks to Flick. When he was appointed, they had just lost the league to a Madrid side that added Mbappé to its squad. They have won five of six domestic trophies since, missing out only on this season’s Copa del Rey.
Here, Torres led the line brilliantly, hassling Madrid’s defenders, chasing every ball, scoring a good goal and setting up another good chance for Rashford. His contract is up next summer. He might have made it much harder for Barça to decide what to do with him this summer.
Elsewhere, Rashford started on the right with Yamal out and delivered the game’s stunning moment with his goal — the first Barça have scored from a direct free kick in the Clásico since Lionel Messi in 2012.
García was tenacious at right back, picked over Jules Koundé, and Gerard Martín continued his fine transformation from third-division left back into LaLiga center back.
His celebration after blocking Diáz and running the ball out of play was a demonstration of the intensity Barça played with. — Marsden
What’s next for Real Madrid?
This result, with Barça confirmed as champions, made it official: Madrid will go two full seasons without winning a major trophy.
That hadn’t happened in 20 years. We can now confidently say that this Madrid season has been an unmitigated disaster. Madrid are 14 points behind Barcelona in LaLiga, and that gap might increase in the three games between now and the end of the season.
In the Champions League, they arguably overperformed to reach the quarterfinals, where Bayern Munich were superior. They crashed out of the Copa del Rey to lower-league Albacete.
And beyond those headline performance indicators, there’s been everything else: the firing of Xabi Alonso; his replacement with a coach who was, evidence suggests, unprepared for the task in Álvaro Arbeloa; and all the dressing room unrest, from Vinicius’ dissent at his Clásico substitution back in October to this week’s crisis with Tchouaméni and Valverde.
How much needs to change this summer? And is the club ready to implement those changes? Arbeloa was already near certain to lose his job at the end of the season, and this result at Camp Nou did nothing to change that.
José Mourinho is widely reported to be the leading contender to replace him. But the bigger questions are above and below the coaching position.
Deep-lying issues and shortcomings in the squad, both on and off the pitch, have been exposed. But it’s not yet clear if the club is willing or able to confront them, and whether changes at the executive level are a necessary part of the process.
Arbeloa was asked postmatch: “What needs to change for Madrid to win again?”
“As I’ve said many, many times, we need to take a step forward collectively,” he said. “We need to have a much clearer idea of what we want to do, and put the collective ahead of the individual. We need a clear idea. That’s the start.” It’s hard to disagree. — Kirkland
