Barcelona won first La Liga title without Lionel Messi since 2019 with win over Espanyol

Barcelona are celebrating winning the Spanish league – and this time without Lionel Messi. Barcelona lifted their first league trophy since Messi’s departure with a 4-2 win at Espanyol on Sunday, with Espanyol fans storming the pitch at the end of the game and forcing Barcelona players to head to the locker room Forced

Robert Lewandowski scored twice to lead the Catalan club to their first league title since 2019. The title was achieved two years after Messi’s departure amid the club’s financial struggles and with four rounds remaining. The last time Barcelona celebrated a league title without Messi in their team was in 1998–99. He broke into the first team in 2004–05 and won the title that season.

Celebrations on the field on Sunday were short-lived as players had to flee to the locker room after a large group of Espanyol fans from the ultra section started running towards Barcelona players behind one of the goals, singing and celebrating in the centre. Were celebrating Security guards immediately intervened but riot police had to stand in front of the entrance to the tunnel to prevent fans from entering. Supporters threw chairs and other objects.

Alejandro Balde and Jules Cunde also scored for Barcelona, ​​who now have 27 league titles, eight fewer than Real Madrid. Third-placed Atletico Madrid are 16 points behind after losing 1-0 to last-place Elche on Sunday. The win over city rival Espanyol gave Barcelona 85 points from 34 games, 14 more than Madrid, who won 1-0 at Getafe on Saturday.

Barcelona have led since round 13 and have the league’s best defense with 13 goals conceded – 14 more than any other club. It also has 25 clean sheets. “It’s a great feeling, the feeling of doing a good job,” said Barcelona coach Xavi. “It is important to give some stability to the club’s project. The league title shows that things are done in the right way and we have to stay on this path.”

Barcelona won eight league titles in 11 seasons through 2019. It looks to finish second behind Madrid in 2020, then third – behind Madrid and champions Atlético – in 2021. It was second only to Madrid in the previous season. Barcelona’s first title without Messi came in the Spanish Super Cup in January.

this is how we do it! , pic.twitter.com/oKm9ZbAPQ1– FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 14, 2023

The club was yet to win a major trophy as chairman Joan Laporta took action to restructure his loan and to rebuild the squad with players such as Lewandowski, Jules Counde and Rafinha. Laporta celebrated with the players in the locker room. Lewandowski opened the scoring on Sunday from close range in the 11th minute after a cross by Alejandro Balde. The 19-year-old left back added to the lead nine minutes later from a pass from Pedri, scoring his first league goal with the club.

Lewandowski, the league’s leading scorer with 21 goals, added his second in the 40th goal after a low cross by Rafinha. Kaunde scored the fourth goal in the 53rd with a header after a long pass from Frankie de Jong. It was also his first league goal with the club.

This defeat dealt a major blow to Espanyol in the fight against relegation. It finished second-to-last, four points away from safety. Espanyol had won only once in their last 10 league matches, with a draw and eight losses. It was relegated in 2020 for the first time in nearly three decades, returning to the top flight at its first attempt as Second Division champions.

As the Barcelona players prepared to celebrate, Javi Puado scored Espanyol’s first goal in the 73rd and Joselu scored the second in stoppage time.

It was the 32nd title with Barcelona for midfielder Sergio Busquets, who is leaving the club at the end of the season. “I wanted to go away winning a title as important as the Spanish league and I’m glad I was able to do that,” he said.

atlético madrid lost

Atlético failed to finish second after losing to already relegated Elche. That defeat prevented Atlético from mathematically securing a spot in next season’s Champions League, although it could still do so by earning a point from its last four games.

It was only Atlético’s second defeat in their last 16 league games. The team’s second defeat was at Barcelona in April. Forward Fidel scored in the 41st minute to give last-place Elche their fourth league win of the season.