Real Madrid sealed the deal with Thursday’s victory against Villareal, earning back the La Liga title from FC Barcelona, who already conceded to their worthy rival through a congratulatory tweet.
With only one game left to play in La Liga Season 2019-20, Real Madrid capped off the win after finishing the match against Villareal with a 2-1 score. This would be the third championship title for Real within the decade, but the club’s first since 2017.
FC Barcelona, the reigning La Liga champion, proudly tips their hats off to the new titleholder.
Karim Benzema sealed the deal
Two of the goals from Thursday’s match against Villareal was brought by the French powerhouse striker Karim Benzema.
Although this game is quite historical, as it cements Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga standing, with Barcelona now trailing seven points behind, it isn’t their best performance, per CNN.
🔟/🔟#34Ligas | #RealFootball pic.twitter.com/Amm3KICO9N
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) July 17, 2020
In fact, nerves were apparent in the early part of the game. With Luka Modric reportedly producing “errant passes,” but was successful enough to lead Benzema to a goal, hyping the rest of the Real players.
The second goal was attained “via a pretty silly route,” per The Guardian. With Sergio Ramos and Benzema failing to time a second-half penalty kick. Nonetheless, their coach, Zinedine Zidane, says the moment was the “truest test of a team.”
💫 Zinedine Zidane: 11 titles as @realmadrid coach.#34Ligas | #RealFootball pic.twitter.com/bWGXjq93iJ
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) July 17, 2020
Barcelona humbly concedes but rallied until the end
Meanwhile, the reigning champs, which have been the center of a few internal conflict issues, have sent out a congratulatory tweet to their worth rival, following the big W on Thursday.
Congratulations to Real Madrid on winning the 2019/20 La Liga title
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 16, 2020
Despite already accepting the fact that Barca will lose the title to Real, the team’s latest match still felt like they were still in it for the big golden cup. However, they still lost to Osasuna, with a 1-2 score.
Leo #Messi's free kick from 23 meters out hits off the crossbar!
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 16, 2020
Fan-favorite and Barca’s famed athlete, Lionel Messi, admits where they failed to dominate the season. Bein Sports quotes Messi’s statement to Movistar, saying, “We’ve been pushing all season but we’ve been inconsistent all season too.”
He also expressed Real Madrid’s effort to earn the La Liga 2019/20 title:
“I think Real Madrid did what they had to do. They’ve done very well since the break in play. Of course, we’ve had a lot of injuries and many points that we’ve dropped in games that we shouldn’t have and now we have to be self-critical over the summer and look back at the mistakes we’ve made. Looking back over the course of the season, of course Madrid deserve it. We have to look back at ourselves and work out where we went wrong rather than looking at the other teams.”
Barcelona is scheduled to play against Deportivo Alavés this Sunday as their last game for season, however, it would be enough to grab the title back from Real Madrid.
Featured image courtesy of Real Madrid C.F./Twitter