It came down to the final day of the season yet again, as Barcelona squared off against Gimnástic needing a win to secure the title and Real Madrid requiring a draw against Mallorca.
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Minutes later, Iago Aspas missed twice for Celta within 60 seconds and Real Madrid got lucky in the 38th minute when the referee missed a clear hand ball by Raphael Varane on the edge of the 18-yard box.
Zidane is delighted with the forward’s performances but insists that the squad’s commitment to his coaching ethos has been the real key to their title charge this term. In his last media appearance, though, he said Malaga had beaten Barca and could spring a surprise on Madrid too.
For his part, Malaga president Abdullah Al-Thani has reacted angrily to press speculation over Michel and late last month sent out a tweet in Arabic responding to a question on whether his team would beat Madrid: “With the help of God, we’ll beat them on the pitch”, it read. But the reigning world player of the year isn’t getting carried away.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s hard to imagine Madrid will have a problem keeping their promise. A point will be enough, but we’ll go out to win as we always do’. United finish their league campaign against Palace at Old Trafford before facing Ajax in the Europa League final in Stockholm next Wednesday, a game they must win to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Barcelona had collapsed towards the end of the season, seeing a 10-point lead at the top whittled down to just one, but they headed into their final-day fixture against Granada on the back of four straight wins.
Cristiano Ronaldo comes into Sunday’s meeting in superb form, having scored five goals in his last three league games to take his tally for the season to 39 in all competitions.
Last night, Barcelona fans around the globe, had their fingers crossed that Celta Vigo could do us a huge favour. “We knew that the three points were the most important thing, but we went out there to play, the win was only a effect”.
Zidane will look to guide Real Madrid to their 12th Champions League title when they face Juventus in the final on June.
“We need to keep doing what we have been doing so far because the title hasn’t been decided yet”, manager Zinedine Zidane said. While Athletic have been working all week, Atletico have nothing to play for having assured a third place finish for the season and enjoyed three days holiday before a team lunch on Thursday. We have a very good system, blending young players with experienced ones.
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“With regards to Cristiano, he has performed incredibly well in LaLiga’s run-in and the final stage of the Champions League”, said the Brazil global.
