BARCELONA ( Associated Press) – Barcelona have once again captured the throne of the Spanish league, and this time without the presence of Lionel Messi.
The Azulgranas ended a four-year drought without winning a domestic title with a 4-2 victory at Espanyol on Sunday, a game that ended with a pitch invasion by club fans that caused Barca players to rush into the locker room.
Xavi Hernandez’s team secured the title four dates earlier and two years after the painful departure of Messi – the Argentine star who marked an unforgettable era – amid financial difficulties that still plague the Catalan club.
“The league shows that things are being done well. It gives us a lot of stability to believe in the project”, said the Barca coach. “The league has been fantastic, with some great wins, others not so much, but we’ve been a team”.
Robert Lewandowski signed a brace, while Alejandro Balde and Jules Kunde scored the other goals for Barca.
This is Barca’s 27th win in the national championship. They underpin the loss of top winners Real Madrid (35), which handed the throne to its arch-rivals this season.
However, the celebration was overshadowed when the Catalans had to run for cover in the tunnel leading to the locker rooms after a large number of Espanyol fans entered the field to confront them as they entered the central circle. I was celebrating. Security agents immediately intervened and riot police lined up in front of the tunnel to prevent fans from entering.
“The celebration was common, but there was a time when it was respectable to go to the booth,” Xavi said.
Lewandowski opened the scoring on 11 minutes by finishing in front of the box following a pass from Balde. 19-year-old winger Balde scored 20 runs for the first time in the season.
The game was sentenced shortly before the break when Lewandowski signed his sixth double of the season. The Polish striker scored 21 goals to establish himself as the leader of the tournament’s scorer’s table and a total of 31 goals in all competitions.
Conde scored Barca’s fourth score on 53.
Javier Puado broke through for the hosts with a shot through the center on 73 and Joselu scored the second in the clearance.
It was barely the ninth day that Barca scored on a Marc-Andre ter Stegen goal.
Azulgranas reached an irreplaceable amount of 85 units. Madrid (71), who beat Getafe 1-0 on Saturday, are in second place.
Espanyol, on the other hand, suffered their ninth defeat in the last 11 rounds, before ending with 31 units and very much committed to relegation.
The Parakeet team strung together 26 Catalan derbies against Barca without a win – seven draws and 19 losses.
In his first full season on the bench, Xavi won his first league title, after winning eight in his time as a Barca player in 17 seasons with the club.
“It’s been ten months of work and I think we have done an extraordinary job”, commented the Barca coach. “For the sustainability of the project, that’s important.”
It is special for league captain Sergio Busquets, who announced his departure from the organization during the week. Busquets won 32 titles in his career with Barca – nine in the league
Athletic dusting
Relegated Elche beat Atlético de Madrid 1–0, falling to third place in the table with 69 points.
Fidel Chaves converted the goal of the match which gave the hosts Elche the win after 41 minutes.
It was Atlético’s second defeat in their last 16 league games. The second was against leaders Barcelona in April.
Mattress captain Jorge “Koke” Resurrecion said, “We haven’t been like we should have been and now we should learn from this defeat to get where we want to be.” “We came from a good dynamic, but it hasn’t been the case today.”
Elche, a team led by Argentine coach Sebastian Becassi, sealed their relegation last week. After their fourth win of the season, they are at the bottom of the table with 19 points.
Valencia comes out of relegation
Alberto Mari Sánchez had only been on the pitch for a few minutes when he converted the goal that gave Valencia a 2–1 win at Celta Vigo and avoided the relegation zone.
Just ten minutes after coming to action in his third game of the tournament, Mari Sánchez scored his first goal in the first division after 88 minutes.
Justin Kluivert put Valencia ahead after eight minutes, while Haris Seferovic scored a momentous 60 for the Galician side.
Valencia were in 14th place with 37 points, three above relegation, and four games to play.
After a third consecutive defeat, Celta vowed to ensure stability. It is located in phase 13 with 39 units.
In addition, Sevilla maintained its great moment under coach José Luis Mendilibar by winning a 2–1 trip to Valladolid.
