Real Madrid win 36th La Liga title after Barcelona surrender to Girona

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Real Madrid clinched a record-extending 36th La Liga title on Saturday after Barcelona blew multiple leads in a 4-2 loss to Girona.

Madrid, who’ve only lost once in La Liga this season, put the champagne on ice with a runaway 3-0 win over Cadiz earlier in the day.

They now have an unassailable 13-point lead with just four matches remaining in the season.

Girona led La Liga for several weeks before stumbling in February. Madrid reclaimed first place on the 22nd matchday and never looked back.

But the upstarts guaranteed themselves a first-ever Champions League berth by completing a league double over Barcelona on Saturday.

Girona had never beaten their Catalan rivals before this season.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side had virtually assured itself of the title by beating Barcelona in El Clasico on April 21. Jude Bellingham’s stoppage-time winner secured the 3-2 comeback victory at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Bellingham also scored in the win over Cadiz, bringing him to 18 league goals in his first year with Los Blancos. He narrowly trails Girona striker Artem Dovbyk, who leads La Liga with 20 markers.

Madrid are still in contention to win a second double in three years. They’re currently tied 2-2 on aggregate with Bayern Munich ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal second leg.

It’s been an unusual year for Madrid, who remained competitive despite enduring long-term injuries to key players. Star goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois missed nine months with knee ligament damage, while defenders Eder Militao and David Alaba went down with ACL tears of their own. Another injury to Courtois’ short-term replacement, on-loan Chelsea ‘keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, threw third choice Andriy Lunin into the fray. But the seldom-used Ukrainian, for so long a spectator to his team’s success, delivered with 10 clean sheets in just 20 league appearances.

Ancelotti had to work hard to claim the sixth league title of his managerial career and the 12th trophy as Madrid’s manager. The affable Italian aided midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni’s transition to defense, turned Luka Modric into an important relief option off the bench, and got an incredible performance out of makeshift right-back Lucas Vazquez in El Clasico. He heavily rotated his team through the year, including in Saturday’s victory over Cadiz, and still captured results.

Most importantly, Ancelotti helped unlock Bellingham’s scoring ability, finding goals from an unlikely source while covering for the loss of Karim Benzema. The English midfielder had never scored more than eight goals in a single domestic season before arriving at Madrid from Borussia Dortmund for a reported €103 million. But he thrived in a more advanced false-nine position, surprising defenders with late runs into the box and notching winners in both games against Barcelona.

Bellingham made an instant impact, bagging 10 goals in his first 11 La Liga matches, but as Madrid developed defensive issues, Ancelotti leaned on the 20-year-old to offer more cover, sacrificing his goals for the good of the team.

It worked. Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo picked up the slack up front, scoring 13 and 10 goals apiece, and the likes of Dani Carvajal, Brahim Diaz, and summer signing Joselu kept the tap flowing.