Spanish league

Girona FC vs FC Barcelona – from 18:30

Over and out - Barcelona must write off the league title for good!

(Bild: AFP)

Real Madrid were able to celebrate the championship title in the Spanish soccer league ahead of schedule on Saturday evening! The superior league leaders, without ÖFB star David Alaba, who is injured on his knee, first showed no weakness in their 3-0 home win against relegation candidates Cadiz and then benefited from a 4-2 defeat by FC Barcelona at new runners-up Girona, who are 13 points off first place with four rounds to go.

It is the record champions' 36th title. For Alaba, it is his second league title in a Real shirt after his first season at Carlo Ancelotti's club in 2021/22. Before tearing his cruciate ligament in December, he had played 14 games for the Whites in LaLiga.

Alaba by far the most successful Austrian footballer abroad
The 31-year-old defender had previously won ten league titles with FC Bayern, making him by far the most successful Austrian footballer abroad.

Brahim Diaz (51), Jude Bellingham (68) and Joselu (93) scored for Real after the break. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made his comeback eleven months after tearing his cruciate ligament and meniscus. The Madrilenians thus boosted their confidence ahead of the second leg against Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday. The first game had ended in a 2-2 draw. A big championship party was not planned at the moment due to the important CL match.

"It's a tempered joy, of course, because the most important game of the season so far is just around the corner, but it's clear that we're happy," said Ancelotti. The Spanish newspaper "Marca" reported in the evening with a live video from the capital. Another video showed the Real professionals celebrating in the evening with loud shouts of "Campeones". "The performance of the attacking players was great, but the injuries early in the season helped us to realize that it's not individuals who are important, but a strong team performance. They did a great job," summed up the Italian. Defending better as a collective was an important key to success.

Barcelona took the lead twice through Andreas Christensen (3rd) and Robert Lewandowski (45.+1/penalty). However, Girona struck back time and again to become the Catalan number one. Artem Dowbyk (4th) scored before the break, after which "joker" Cristian Portu (65th, 75th) and Miguel Gutierrez (67th) completed the turnaround with three goals in the space of ten minutes. Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen then made some good saves to prevent an even greater defeat.

Girona thus also won their second head-to-head game of the season after the one on December 10, 2023 in front of their own fans with a 4-2 victory and now have one point more than third-placed Barca.