Watched by their grieving coach, Barcelona retain La Liga title

BARCELONA, AP:

Watched by their grieving coach, Barcelona won their second straight Spanish league title and 29th overall with a comfortable 2-0 win over Real Madrid at Camp Nou yesterday, adding to their rivals' troubled season.

Goals by Marcus Rashford in the ninth minute and Ferran Torres in the 18th gave Barcelona the victory and an insurmountable 14-point advantage over their fierce rivals with three rounds remaining in La Liga.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick was in the dugout for yesterday's clasico following the death of his father, which Barcelona announced hours before kick-off. Players from both teams wore black armbands and there was a moment of silence before kick-off.

A draw would also have been enough for the Catalan club to seal third  league title in four seasons.

Madrid, who remain the most successful club in the league with 36 trophies, are ending a second consecutive season without a major title. Yesterday's defeat at Barcelona capped an embarrassing week for Madrid, marked by altercations between players in training that led the club to fine Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni 500,000 euros (US$589,000) each.

Rashford opened the scoring for the hosts with a wonderfully taken free kick, curling the ball over the wall and into the top corner. Torres added to the lead from inside the area after a flick from Dani Olmo.

‘THIS IS LIKE A FAMILY’

Flick’s father reportedly died overnight. The coach celebrated Barcelona’s goals and looked emotional after the final whistle.

“I will never forget this day. It was a tough day for me. It starts with this (news that) my father passed away, but here, my team is fantastic,” Flick said. “I really love it, this is like a family and they gave everything today, and I’m really proud. It’s amazing, in this stadium, and also in the clasico against Real Madrid, to win La Liga.”

There was a brief scuffle between players in the 51st minute after Olmo confronted a Madrid player. Olmo was shown a yellow card.

Madrid’s Jude Bellingham had a goal disallowed for offside in the 63rd.

Brazil forward Raphinha replaced Rashford in the 64th to return from a long injury lay-off.

Barcelona have been playing the final league games without the injured Lamine Yamal, its biggest star. Yamal was on the field lifting the trophy along with his teammates.

NO MBAPPE (ACCENT MISSING)

Madrid were without the injured Kylian Mbappé, the league’s leading scorer with 24 goals. The France forward failed to recover from a left-hamstring ailment that has kept him sidelined since late April.

Madrid were also without Valverde, who hurt his head in the altercation with Tchouaméni after allegedly accidentally knocking his head on a table. It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training last week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.

ARBEOLA UNDER FIRE

The loss in yesterday's clasico is likely to increase criticism of coach Álvaro Arbeloa, who was promoted from Madrid’s reserve team when Xabi Alonso was fired in January. The rumours of a possible return of José Mourinho to the club were only likely to increase.

“There's not a lot we can say," Arbeloa said. “We understand how frustrated and dissatisfied the fans must be. The only thing we can do is work and look to the future, learn from everything that we have done badly this year. Real Madrid is always back, we have fallen many times and we have risen many times.”