On Saturday, Luis Enrique’s men lifted the La Liga trophy for the sixth time in the last decade. They still have a long way to go if they want to catch the record winners Real Madrid (32).
The Catalonian giants were held by Deportivo La Couna in their final home game of the season but it didn’t affect the celebrations. Leo Messi added two more goals to his tally of 56 goals in the 2 – 2 draw. If the Argentine could lead his side to a triumph in the Champions League final against Juventus, he might most certainly lift the Ballon d’Or in January next year. Messi also has an opportunity to shine in the Copa America to be held in Chile next month.
Real Madrid’s 7 – 3 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu was just a consolation to a disappointing end to their season. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a first half hat-trick in the win over Getafe. The Portuguese ace has ended the season with 61 goals in all competitions – his personal best goal scoring record. There have been a lot of speculation regarding the future of Los Blancos’s main man and it won’t be utterly shocking if he moves away from Spain because of the tough time Bernabeu faithful and Spanish press gave him throughout the year.
Following the defeat in all major competitions, Carlo Ancelotti has been sacked from the helm at Real Madrid. The Italian spearheaded the club to win the much awaited ‘La Decima’ last season, but the club president Florentino Perez claimed that the expectations at Real are extremely high.
“What did Ancelotti do wrong? I don’t know,” Perez added. “The demands here at Real Madrid are very high. The affection that the players and the fans have for Carlo is the same as the affection I myself have for him.”
The La Liga champions last year, Atletico ended this season with a goalless draw at Granada. Diego Simeone’s men finished third on the Spanish league table, 16 points behind the league champions. Antoine Greizmann was probably one of the best players at Atletico and also in the league and he’ll pursued by European giants in the summer transfer window.
Valencia managed to hold on to the Champions League spot on the final day. Almeria went ahead twice but the visitors came from behind to win the game 3 – 2. Garcia netted the winning goal in the 80th minute but Parejo’s sending off in the 89th minute meant a nervy end for Valencia supporters. Sevilla were breathing down Valencia’s neck and a slip would’ve seen Unai Emery’s men advance to the Champions League instead of the Europa League. The fifth place Sevilla also got a 3 – 2 away win and their opponents at the weekend were Malaga.
Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao will join Sevilla in Europa next season, but they’ll have to go through the play-off round prior to that unlike Sevilla.
Granada have survived relegation, but Eibar will go down despite the 3 – 0 win over Cordoba. The goal difference was the key to separate both these sides at the bottom of the table. Almeria and Cordoba are the other two teams that’ll not feature in the top division next season.