Real Madrid are Spanish football champions for the 35th time. The royals secured the title on Saturday with a 4-0 (2-0) win over Espanyol Barcelona four games before the end of the season. The pursuers FC Sevilla and FC Barcelona can no longer catch up with the record champions in the final sprint.
With two goals in the 33rd and 43rd minutes, the Brazilian Rodrygo set the course for the hosts before the break. Marco Asensio (55th) and Karim Benzema (81st) made everything clear. The hosts could even afford to rest their top stars Benzema and Toni Kroos on the bench for an hour. For the German it is the third championship title with the Madrilenians.
Real coach Carlo Ancelotti thus completed his collection of titles in the five major European leagues. After championships in Italy with AC Milan, England with Chelsea, France with Paris Saint-Germain and Germany with Bayern Munich, the 62-year-old has now also won Spain’s league. During his first tenure at Real Madrid from 2013 to 2015, he was denied the championship title.
The next goal for Real is to win the Champions League again. After the 3: 4 in the semi-final first leg at Manchester City, the record winner wants to make it into the final in the second leg on Wednesday (9 p.m. / DAZN). Ancelotti had already described the championship title as an additional motivation. “If we manage to win the title on Saturday, of course we will celebrate,” said the Italian. “I think that would help us for the game against Manchester City.”
Premier League: Liverpool and ManCity win – Norwich is relegated
In the English Premier League, the head-to-head duel between leaders Manchester City and Liverpool FC with team manager Jürgen Klopp continues. On the 35th matchday, the Citizens won 4-0 (1-0) at Leeds United, 1-0 (1-0) before the Reds won just two days after the contract extension with the German coach until 2026 at Newcastle United . Man City leads the standings with 83 points, one point ahead of Liverpool. Both teams are about to enter the Champions League final next week.
The Spaniard Rodri (13th) scored the opening goal for ManCity, who started with national player Ilkay Gündogan in the starting line-up. Dutchman Nathan Ake (54′) and Brazilian Gabriel Jesus (78′) and Fernandinho (90’+3′) made everything clear. Ex-Leipzig player Naby Keita scored the winning goal for the Klopp team (19th). Leeds team manager Jesse Marsch (formerly RB Leipzig) offered Robin Koch in the starting eleven. The international was unlucky, however, colliding with Aymeric Laporte in the 16th minute. Both players had to be treated for five minutes, but were able to continue playing.
Norwich City is the first to be relegated after the 0: 2 (0: 1) at Aston Villa. With only 21 points, the canaries are bottom of the table.
Champions League: Wolves miss miracle against Barcelona
Despite a courageous race to catch up, the VfL Wolfsburg footballers missed the hoped-for Champions League miracle against FC Barcelona. After the 1: 5 at the Camp Nou, the strong Bundesliga leaders defeated the defending champions in the semi-final second leg 2: 0 (0: 0) and stopped the 45 competitive games winning streak of the top favorites as a conciliatory farewell.
Goalscorer Tabea Waßmuth (47′) and Dutchman Jill Roord (59′) scored in front of 22,057 fans, which made for a record home crowd for the VfL women. The Catalans will now meet Paris St. Germain or Olympique Lyon in the final on May 21 in Turin (9 p.m. / first leg 2: 3). The two-time title holder Wolfsburg is now turning his attention to the possible double. In the final of the league, VfL is currently in the lead in a duel with Bayern Munich, in the DFB Cup final on May 28, the long-term winner against Turbine Potsdam is the favorite.
A little hope germinated again: Jill Roord (middle) scored to make it 2-0 for Wolfsburg against Barcelona – but the win wasn’t enough for a place in the final.
(Photo: Tobias Schwarz/AFP)
Compared to the first leg, Wolfsburg coach Tommy Stroot relied on additional offensive and pressing power from the fast Ewa Pajor. On the other side, Jonatan Giraldez trusted his successful starting eleven from the previous week. And with the usual amount of ball possession, they felt a lot more resistance than eight days before. The hostesses were more compact and also showed their quality in the transition game. Roords (34th) first good chance but defused Barca keeper Sandra Panos.
On the other side, goalkeeper Almuth Schult again proved to be a strong support against the feared offensive around world footballer Alexia Putellas in front of the eyes of national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. In the first leg, Schult saved her team from an even worse debacle with 16 saves. The second half then began almost perfectly for VfL: After just 112 seconds, Waßmuth scored from a long-range shot from a free kick situation. It was the tenth goal in the tenth Champions League game for the national striker.
After the lead, the home fans cheered their wolves even louder. The otherwise so cool Barça ensemble was actually impressed and conceded the second goal: Roord also took heart from distance and caught goalkeeper Panos wrong-footed. In the final phase, a hectic exchange of blows then developed. Wolfsburg sensed his chance, but Barcelona invested more again and also made dangerous deals.