The defending champions were crowned La Liga champions after star striker Luis Saurez smashed a hat-trick during the side’s 3-0 rout of Granada to finish the tournament with a one-point lead over fierce rivals Real Madrid and three points clear of Atletico.
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Neymar said the club are highly motivated to play for Sunday’s Copa del Rey title, and added that the two titles would help take the sting out of losing in Champions League quarterfinals to Atletico Madrid. It’s great for us in terms of morale heading into the Champions League final.
For the first time in seven years, the Pichichi trophy awarded to La Liga’s top scorer wasn’t won by Messi or Real’s Cristiano Ronaldo. “It’s always hard to win the league and we made a bad start and were 12 points behind the leaders”. We started badly, but until the end we could win [the title].
That clasico defeat saw Barca wobble and lose four of their next five, but the Catalans recovered their form, winning five straight league games and scoring 24 goals without conceding one.
“I’m not sure if Luis Enrique’s trying to make a point to the hierarchy at the club – but he doesn’t have too much faith in too numerous squad players, so he’s constantly relied on the same players time and time again”, Gibson told the La Liga Weekly podcast.
Real Madrid beat Deportivo and stayed in the second place, while Atletico Madrid confirmed their third place against Celta De Vigo.
Suarez’s first-half double put the defending champions in control and the Uruguay worldwide confirmed Barca’s 24th La Liga crown with his third goal four minutes from time.
Neymar then generously played in Suarez to complete his hat-trick before the end.
Suarez’s first season at Barca nearly inevitably suffered a hesitant start following his return from a four-month ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.
“We’re a little disappointed after the effort we made but now we’re only thinking about Milan”, Zidane told a news conference after his team finished as runners-up.
“We couldn’t be champions until the last day and this attests to the difficulty of the League”.
The second half began with Barca still in control before Granada changed their tactics and began to stage pressure higher up the pitch and Ter Stegen was called to make a sharp save as Fran Rico had a decent chance for the home side.
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“Without people saying it, I’ve realised that recently my team mates have been looking to pass to me more and more”, Suarez said last week.
