Barcelona’s fourth La Liga title in five seasons — and the 22nd of their history — was confirmed on Saturday after Real Madrid could only manage a 1-1 draw with Espanyol.
Espanyol took advantage of Jose Mourinho resting a host of first team players in the first half ahead of Real’s Copa del Rey final with Atletico Madrid on Friday.
And they deservedly went in front through Christian Stuani on 22 minutes.
However, after the introduction of Cristiano Ronaldo in the second-half, Madrid rallied and were level when Gonzalo Higuain flicked home Luka Modric’s free-kick just before the hour mark.
But Los Blancos couldn’t find the winner they needed to keep the title race alive as the point leaves them seven adrift of Barca with just two games remaining.
“There is nothing more to do than congratulate them,” Real midfield Xabi Alonso told Canal Plus.
“The league is a tournament of consistency and we had a very bad start that didn’t allow us to compete until the end.
“Right now the objective of Real Madrid is the Cup. We want to fight for this title because we have a great desire to lift it in our stadium.”
Mourinho eyes copa triumph
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has congratulated Barcelona on their 22nd league title.
“They have just won a league that until now was ours and I think the least we can do is congratulate them.”
Mourinho rested a host of first-team players from the start at the Cornella El-Prat with Friday’s Copa del Rey final against Atletico Madrid in mind, but Real were still dealt a huge blow ahead of that clash when Raphael Varane limped off with a knee injury early on.
Pepe was again not involved in the squad against Espanyol and Mourinho hinted that either Ricardo Carvalho or Raul Albiol are likely to get the nod ahead of the 30-year-old against Atleti.