FC Barcelona secures La Liga title with Clasico win
Baku, May 11, AZERTAC
FC Barcelona won this season's La Liga title on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Real Madrid in the Camp Nou, Xinhua reports.
The win leaves Barcelona 14 points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the table, confirming its domination over the opponent for the second consecutive year.
Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe was sidelined with a hamstring problem and with Federico Valverde also sidelined after his well-published fight with Aurelien Tchouameni, Dean Huijsen was a late scratch as he suffered a problem in warmup.
Ferran Torres was the architect of Barcelona's best moments in the first half, forcing a foul from Antonio Rudiger in the ninth minute, which allowed Marcus Rashford to open the scoring with an unstoppable delivery that left goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois helpless.
Torres doubled Barcelona's lead in the 18th minute with a sharp finish after Dani Olmo set the striker up with a smart backheel.
Rashford had a great chance to add a third goal before the break after Torres again set him through on goal, but this time Courtois tipped the shot wide and Olmo hit his shot wide from the resulting corner.
Real Madrid struggled to react at the start of the second half, with Courtois cutting out a dangerous Rashford cross and saving well from Torres.
Jude Bellingham saw a goal ruled out for offside, and Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia did well to save from Vinicius as Real Madrid briefly tried to show some spirit.
Courtois saved from Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski in the closing minutes, while Barcelona held on for the win and will celebrate its title on Monday.
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