MADRID: Barcelona is celebrating yet another Spanish league title to cap a nearly perfect season.
Unbeaten Barcelona added to its domestic dominance by winning La Liga for the third time in the last four seasons on Sunday, remaining unbeaten after 34 rounds. Lionel Messi scored a hat trick and Philippe Coutinho added a goal to give Barcelona a 4-2 win at Deportivo La Coruna and an insurmountable 11-point lead over Atletico Madrid.
“We know how difficult it is to win this league,” Messi said. “We were better than our rivals. There is a lot of merit to winning this title without any losses.”
Barcelona has won 26 league games and drawn eight, with four matches left.
It was Barcelona’s seventh league title in 10 seasons and 25th overall. Real Madrid, last year’s champion, leads with 33 La Liga trophies.
Barcelona has also thrived in the Copa del Rey, the country’s second-most important club competition, winning it for the last four seasons.
“The hardest thing is to keep winning,” said coach Ernesto Valverde, who is celebrating his first league title in his debut season with Barcelona. “You have to find a way to keep coming back.”
Barcelona’s next goal is to try to finish the league unbeaten, something which has never happened in the competition’s current format.
“It’s been an almost perfect season for us in the league,” midfielder Sergio Busquets said.
Barcelona’s biggest setback this season came in the Champions League, when it was eliminated by Roma in the quarterfinals after squandering a three-goal advantage from the first leg.
Andres Iniesta, who last week announced he won’t return for a 17th season with the club, started from the bench but entered the match close to the end to applause from most of the crowd at Riazor Stadium.
Iniesta and Messi each have won nine Spanish league titles.
Sunday’s result relegated Clarence Seedorf’s Deportivo.
The hosts paid tribute to Barcelona even before the match started with its squad lining up outside the tunnel and applauding their rivals as they entered the field. Most of the opposing fans at Riazor also applauded Barcelona’s players.
Coutinho opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a well-placed shot into the top corner after a pass by Ousmane Dembele, and Messi added to the lead in the 38th with a strike from near the far post after a perfect cross by Luiz Suarez.
Deportivo pulled one closer with a goal by Lucas Perez in the 40th and equalized with Emre Colak’s shot from inside the area in the 64th.
Messi put Barcelona ahead in the 82nd from close range after exchanging passes with Suarez inside the area, then sealed the victory in a breakaway in the 85th.
Messi has 32 league goals, leaving him with eight more than Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo in the race for top scorer.
It has been yet another disappointing coaching stint for Seedorf, the former Dutch midfielder who earned only two victories in 13 matches since arriving to try to save Deportivo from relegation. The team has lost six times and drawn five under his command, returning to the second division for the first time since 2013-14.
“We didn’t reach our goal,” Seedorf said. “Now the future is open. We’ll see what happens.”
Seedorf had achieved lackluster results in his previous coaching stints, including at AC Milan in 2014.
Atletico stays second
Atletico’s depleted team defeated Alaves 1-0 to strengthen its grip on second place.
Kevin Gameiro converted a second-half penalty kick to secure the away victory for Atletico, which rested most of its regular starters ahead of Thursday’s return leg against Arsenal in the Europa League semifinals.
The result gave Atletico a four-point gap to third-place Real Madrid, which has a game in hand.
Gameiro scored the 78th-minute winner from the spot less than 10 minutes after Fernando Torres had his penalty kick saved by Alaves goalkeeper Axel Werner.
Atletico forward Angel Correa was sent off with a second yellow card in second-half injury time.
Valencia draws
Fourth-place Valencia still has to secure its Champions League spot after a 0-0 home draw against Eibar.
Valencia, winless in four matches, has an 11-point lead over fifth-place Real Betis, which has four games left and hosts last-place Malaga on Monday.
Getafe moves up
Getafe moved to the final qualification spot for the Europa League with a 1-1 home draw against Girona.
The result left Getafe in seventh place, one point in front of Sevilla.
Girona, also in the fight for a spot in Europe’s second-tier club competition, stayed ninth. It has 48 points, the same as Sevilla which has a game in hand.
Barcelona win La Liga title in an almost perfect season
Barcelona win La Liga title in an almost perfect season
- It was Barcelona’s seventh league title in 10 seasons and 25th overall
- Lionel Messi scored a hat trick and Philippe Coutinho added a goal to give Barcelona a 4-2 win at Deportivo La Coruna and an insurmountable 11-point lead over Atletico Madrid
Forever Young bids for historic second Saudi Cup
- Yoshito Yahagi returns with two defending champions
RIYADH: Trainer Yoshito Yahagi believed Forever Young (JPN) to be virtually unbeatable when he thwarted Romantic Warrior (IRE) 12 months ago, and he returns to Riyadh with his Breeders’ Cup hero bidding to become the first dual winner of the Group 1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse this Saturday.
Hong Kong legend Romantic Warrior was the only possible danger to victory in the 2025 renewal of the $20 million feature in the mind of the decorated trainer.
And he was proved correct as the pair went head-to-head down the stretch with Forever Young prevailing by neck — having only led inside the final 25 meters.
“I didn’t think he would be beaten by any horse,” revealed Yahagi. “But I wasn’t completely sure about Romantic Warrior, as it was his first time racing on dirt. If Forever Young was going to be beaten, it had to be by Romantic Warrior.”
Romantic Warrior made a big move at the top of the stretch and looked assured of success, only for Ryusei Sakai to wear him down aboard the brilliant entire in a dramatic climax.
“It was unbelievable. To be honest, I thought we had been beaten at the finish. It was a great race,” added Yahagi.
The trainer bids for a third win in just seven renewals of the Saudi Cup following on from Panthalassa (JPN) in 2023, and Forever Young will have his first start after writing another chapter in the history books when becoming the first Japanese-trained winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar last November.
“He skipped the Tokyo Daishoten this year after the Breeders’ Cup,” explained Yahagi. “He was carrying a little extra weight at first, but he has been improving steadily.
“The anti-clockwise track and the long home straight really suit him in Saudi Arabia and Sakai knows everything about him. Their partnership is very reliable,” added the trainer of the pairing who also claimed the 2024 Saudi Derby.
Yahagi has been one of the leading promoters of Japanese racing with wins also in Dubai on World Cup night, in Hong Kong and with a Cox Plate victory in Australia.
“Winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic definitely brought about a big change in the Japanese racing industry. Horse racing is still not the biggest sport in Japan, but I would like to continue working to grow it,” he explained.
“The Japanese racing industry is aiming to be the best in the world. Strong fan support, including wagering turnover, contributes to high prize-money. Because of that, Japanese owners are willing to invest significant sums. The industry is healthy thanks to the support of the fans.”
Forever Young went on to be third in the Dubai World Cup last year and a return to Meydan is again on the cards, but another tilt at a Breeders’ Cup has yet to be decided.
Yahagi said: “He will run The Saudi Cup and the Dubai World Cup. He is scheduled to run in those two races. We are focusing on these two Middle Eastern races for his spring campaign. Nothing has been confirmed yet for his autumn campaign.
“The Breeders’ Cup will be held at Keeneland this year, which makes it a different situation for us compared to when it is held on the West Coast of the US. I need to discuss our plans with the owner, Mr. Fujita, who was keen to keep him in training.”
Team Yahagi return with not one but two defending champions as Shin Emperor (FR) also bids for a repeat win after making all from stall three last year in the Howden Neom Turf Cup, which now carries G1 status and $3 million in prize-money.
“He is in very good form and this race has always been the target,” said Yahagi. “The anti-clockwise, flat 2,100-meter track on good ground suits him very well. He doesn’t have to lead, but we would like to see him settle into a good position.”
And ominously for opponents to the full-brother to Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Sottass (FR), he added: “I thought he had fully matured, but in fact he is still improving.”
