With four games to go, Real Madrid have been crowned Spanish champions for the 36th time. The team’s showpiece can be found, of all places, where there were major injury concerns
Whether the players and officials made it to their sofas at home in time is not known. In any case, the Whites did not celebrate their 36th championship on the pitch between the semi-final matches against FC Bayern in the Champions League.
When Real won their home game against Cadiz shortly after 6pm on Saturday evening (3-0), the league title had not yet been decided. That was only the case around two and a half hours later, as FC Barcelona fell in the chasing duel with FC Girona (now definitely in the top flight) – after leading 2:1, the final score was 2:4. Four games before the end, the Madrilenians are 13 points clear at the top of the table. Decision
The preliminary decision was made on the evening of April 21, when Real also won the second Liga Clasico – again with a winning goal from Jude Bellingham in stoppage time. These two late goals were emblematic of a season in which the headlines belonged above all to the impressive English newcomer. Former Dortmund player Bellingham, who is only 20 years old and scored the decisive 2-0 on Saturday, even has a chance of becoming top scorer
Rüdiger is turning into the leader of the defense
However, it was probably not so much the offense that earned the record champions their 36th “Liga” title. Barcelona and Girona were able to keep up on this front. Madrid’s strong defense (only 22 goals conceded after 34 league games) set them far apart from the competition. Although Carlo Ancelotti’s team had to replace regular keeper Thibaut Courtois and central defenders Eder Militao and David Alaba (all cruciate ligament ruptures). Andriy Lunin emerged as a worthy replacement between the posts, while Antonio Rüdiger became the new boss in defense.
The 2023/24 La Liga season will end with a deserving champion that was superior to its rivals, as demonstrated by the two clear victories against surprise team Girona (3:0, 4:0). The biggest challenge for Ancelotti, who has extended his contract once again, will now come next year, when the attack will be upgraded with Endrick and possibly Kylian Mbappé: The last coach to defend the league title with Real Madrid to date was Leo Beenhakker – in 1989.