Match report:
So Real Madrid have won La Liga five years after their last triumph. They are fully deserving champions having led the way for so long this season and racked up 93 points. It is not over yet for Real of course, with the Champions League final still to come. Zinedine Zidane has made a great start to life as a manager and with such a deep and talented squad at his disposal, there is no reason to think they cannot get even better. For now, though, it’s party time in Málaga. That’s all from me, thanks for reading.
Updated
Confirmation of the top of La Liga:
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 38 | 65 | 93 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 38 | 79 | 90 |
| 3 | Atletico Madrid | 38 | 43 | 78 |
| 4 | Sevilla | 38 | 20 | 72 |
| 5 | Villarreal | 38 | 23 | 67 |
One player, Nacho I think, runs on with a selfie stick in hand. There’s always, always one. Zidane hugs each of his players with a broad smile across his face.
Full-time: Málaga 0-2 Real Madrid. Real win La Liga!
At the Camp Nou, Messi adds a fourth goal but it matters not! Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea blows his whistle and the Real Madrid squad stream on to the pitch to celebrate. After five years they have regained the title.
90 min Málaga have had some good chances and here are a couple more for Chory Castro, who first has a powerful shot touched on to the bar by Navas and then aims a header just over.
Updated
89 min Action, as Marcelo takes a shot! He smashes it into the crowd from 10 yards when he really should have tested Kameni.
Updated
88 min Real have not attacked for about 20 minutes now. Florentino Pérez must be considering Zidane’s future.
86 min A small section of Real Madrid fans are bouncing to the beat of a drum in amongst them.
84 min There is not an awful lot happening. Ricca whips in a cross but Duda’s header is a long way over the bar.
82 min Zidane continues to stalk the touchline as he has done all game. Hands on hips, he watches on animatedly.
80 min It is still Málaga on the attack, but they don’t seem very likely to make a breakthrough, let alone a miraculous title-scuppering turnaround.
77 min Málaga are putting on some pressure with a couple of corners, but the lineup of defenders which the delivery has to get past at the near post is vast. Ronaldo is the one to head the ball away.
75 min Messi slams in the penalty which means Barcelona are 3-2 ahead against Eibar, but their comeback means little. Real Madrid are three points clear at the top as it stands.
74 min Charles gets his first touch of the game and it’s a header in a decent position near the penalty spot, but it spoons off his forehead into the stands. Barça have another penalty...
72 min Benzema off, Álvaro Morata on. At the Camp Nou, Luis Suárez taps in an equaliser.
71 min A change for Málaga: Charles replaces the impressive Sandro Ramírez, who will probably be moving on to bigger things next season. He gets a big salute from the crowd. Jony also comes off, with Duda on.
69 min Messi has just missed a penalty at the Camp Nou. Yikes.
66 min Kovacic and Modric quickly combine in midfield to serve Benzema in the box but he can’t quite get his shot away before the Málaga defence shut him down.
65 min Changes for Real Madrid. James Rodriguez replaces Isco, who is given a huge ovation by his former club’s supporters. Casermiro also makes way with Mateo Kovacic replacing him.
63 min Barcelona are back in it, Neymar’s shot hitting a defender and rebounding in for an own goal. They still trail 2-1.
62 min Sergio Ramos bodychecks Fornals and Málaga will have a free-kick in a dangerous position ... which is blazed over the bar.
61 min Takashi Inui has just crashed in a second for Eibar off the crossbar. They lead Barcelona at the Camp Nou 2-0. Done, done, done.
59 min A change for Málaga: Chory Castro replaces Keko.
58 min A sharp header by Camacho at a corner, arching back and flexing his neck muscles, is equalled by Keylor Navas’s athletic save.
57 min Málaga were fuming about something in that goal but it’s hard to know exactly what. The replay didn’t reveal anything they might have issue with, but Kameni’s protests were so strong that he picked up a yellow card.
Goal That should clinch it. Kroos whips in a corner which is met by a totally unmarked Sergio Ramos. His volley is well saved by Kameni but when the ball pings off Varane it lands invitingly for Karim Benzema to tap in from six yards.
Goal! Málaga 0-2 Real Madrid (Benzema, 55 min)
Party time.
54 min At the Camp Nou, Barça continue to probe but they haven’t been able to find a way past Eibar’s defences. They are still 1-0 behind.
52 min Ronaldo is forced off the field by the referee following treatment but is beckoned back on soon enough, with a limp for good measure. He takes another meaty challenge from Camacho and throws his arms out in dismay.
51 min Ronaldo is down on the turf, rolling around. He throws his shinpad off in disgust. The replay shows it was a pretty punchy slide tackle from Federico Ricca but probably not worthy of the theatrics. I daresay Ronaldo will be OK to continue.
49 min Málaga attack, which is always risky against Real Madrid. The visitors pinch the ball and fly fowards where Ronaldo is tackled brilliantly by Mikel Villanueva. At the other end Fornals tries a shot but it’s comfortable for Navas at his near post.
48 min Jony tries to wriggle free in the box but he is eventually closed out by the duo of Casemiro and Raphaël Varane. Málaga are dominating the ball.
46 min Málaga have started this half better than they did the first. Not a high bar, but still.
Kick-off
Referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea gives his whistle a blast and Málaga get the game back on.
It’s half-time at the Camp Nou, too, where Barcelona trial Eibar 1-0. An awful lot would have to happen over the next hour for Barça to steal the title.
Half-time: Málaga 0-1 Real Madrid
Ronaldo’s early strike leaves Real Madrid 45 minutes from the La Liga title.
45 min Sandro passes the ball off the pitch and bellows at Fornals, the nearest player who could have done absolutely nothing about it. A moment later Sandro is fouled by Sergio Ramos and whips in the free-kick himself, but in the box Camacho is offside.
43 min Ronaldo plays a crafty scoop through to Benzema in the box who is in on goal, but offside.
42 min Over at the Camp Nou, Luis Suárez misses another opportunity to equalise. “I watched the 2-0 game between Malaga and Barca,” emails Kelvin, “and I think Barca should have been more concerned with their own game today. Malaga is a decent team, as are Eibar. Smart money says Eibar to score the next goal.”
40 min Another close call! Keko this time, getting on the end of Jony’s cross from the left and heading back the way the ball came, just as forwards are taught to, but it flies by the post with Navas beaten.
38 min Sandro is in the mood to do his former club Barça a favour. First he takes a corner which appears to be a shot at a goal, forcing Navas to backtrack and tip over his bar. From the next one Sandro works a one-two before smashing a shot from the corner of the area, which gets a deflection and whistles inches past the goal to gasps from the crowd.
36 min Kroos shoots from the edge of the box and when Kameni fumbles the save, Benzema looks to have a tap in. But the Cameroon goalkeeper is quick to his feet and pounces on the ball a moment before the striker could fire home.
34 min A brilliant reaction save by Kameni denies Ronaldo. It came from a solo counterattack by Isco who glided 40 yards with the ball at his feet, weaving left and right before passing to Benzema on the edge of the box. Benzema charged to the left of the six-yard area before squaring to Ronaldo who got the ball out from under his feet and slammed a low shot, but Kameni stops it with his legs.
32 min Barcelona are still 1-0 down at home to Eibar. A reminder that as things stand Real Madrid will win La Liga by six points.
30 min A series of feisty tackles end with Casemiro bringing the ball forwards. He spreads it left to Marcelo joining the counterattack, but the full-back’s pass towards Ronaldo is overhit and runs through to Kameni.
28 min Ronaldo powers forwards like a relentless force, running directly towards the Málaga goal in the way you would programme a robot to first play football. Defenders bump off him as he lays it to Isco and goes for the return pass on the edge of box. He controls it, takes a touch and slams a low shot but it’s well blocked by a sliding Hernández.
26 min Málaga are enjoying a good spell in Real’s half without creating anything clear cut.
24 min Modric swings in an excellent cross and Sergio Ramos, still lurking forwards after an earlier free-kick, dives to get his head to the ball. It’s a good effort but it zips just over the crossbar.
22 min If you are wondering why I’ve just been writing ‘referee’ it’s because his name is Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea. Lovely, but too much.
21 min What a brilliant save this is. Sando hits a stunning free-kick from a wide left position, the sort of area in which the goalkeeper is expecting a cross. Navas scampers across his line and launches himself through the air to paw the ball away from his top-right corner, denying the former Barça forward some goal, and taking a knock in the process. After some treatment the keeper is OK to continue.
19 min Casemiro is fouled, questionably, by Fornals. The Brazilian went down a little easily and must have been relieved to get the decision. Meanwhile Barcelona have had a Luis Suárez goal disallowed for an offside in the buildup. Things not going to plan at the Camp Nou.
17 min Fornals robs Marcelo in midfield, bringing a roar from the home crowd. He slides a pass down the right for Keko who whips in a dangerous delivery but Sergio Ramos is well placed to head the ball clear.
16 min Casemiro fires a big switch-pass out to Marcelo advancing down the left, but he’s quickly closed down and Real are forced to retreat.
14 min Kroos swings a corner towards Varane but the French defender’s header sails over. Over in Barcelona, Luis Suárez has just missed a good chance to equalise.
@lawrenceostlere both RM & FCB haven't been at the dominant best but got results in games made hard by themselves! Real's title!
— John McEnerney (@MackerOnTheMed) May 21, 2017
It’s certainly looking that way right now.
13 min Sandro chases down a fast pass down the left. He cuts inside and faces up to Varane before firing a low shot to the near post, but Navas gets down well to make the save. Málaga’s most promising moment so far.
12 min Jony tries a long-range effort but it fades away from goal off his left foot.
11 min Real are decked out in full head-to-toe black tonight, by the way, against Málaga’s white and blue colours. Madrid look menacing.
10 min Real have their collective foot on the ball and they are enjoying some possession in Málaga’s half, though without any great penetration.
9 min Keko is chopped down by Marcelo down the right but doesn’t win a free-kick from the referee. Perhaps frustrated, the young winger dishes out some retaliation on Isco near the halfway line and this time it’s deemed a foul.
7 min Eibar are winning 1-0 at the Camp Nou! As it stands Real Madrid are six points clear at the top.
6 min Málaga put together their first attacking move down Real’s right, but Jony’s weak cross is cleared by Varane.
4 min Ronaldo immediately goes on the charge again, cutting in off the left and shooting, but his strike is charged down.
Goal A high ball is dealt with terribly by the Málaga defence who present the ball to Isco, perhaps 40 yards out. Ronaldo sparks into life and Isco finds him in behind the back four. He rounds Kameni and slots into an empty net, and that is the perfect start. Pretty sure those were his first touches, too.
Goal! Málaga 0-1 Real Madrid (Ronaldo, 2 min)
There it is.
1 min Modric is given an early ‘let him know you’re there’ by Camacho.
Kick-off
Peeeeep! Karim Benzema nudges the ball to Isco and they’re under way in Málaga.
The players are out on the pitch shaking hands in a packed La Rosaleda. The atmosphere is stoked. Cristiano looks menacing. What a man. What cheek bones. Anyway, what are your predictions? Sandro to do it for his old club Barça, perhaps scoring the winner and lifting his shirt to reveal a tattoo of Messi on his chest? Michel to commit some sort of tactical suicide to do it for his old club Real? Cristiano Ronaldo to score a hat-trick and win at a canter? Probably that one, let’s be honest. Here we go...
“How embarrassing do you think it would be for Real if they went on to lose the title after staying on top of the table for so long,” emails Kumar Saurabh. “As talks are on in Spain of Real heralding in a new era of dominance, would a collapse tonight in fact retard the progress made by Zidane and his team this season (at least domestically)?” It would be pretty disastrous given their dominance for much of the year. I’m not sure the Real Madrid fans/press are the sort to look at the positives of a well-fought campaign and pat each other on the back should they finish second – they even booed Ronaldo a few weeks ago. It’s win or nothing.
That Real Madrid bench though? It would make some 7-a-side team. A big part of why they have been able to shine on two fronts this season – despite several key injuries – is that strength in depth. Lucas Vázquez, Mateo Kovacic, Álvaro Morata and James Rodríguez have all made important impacts both starting and from the bench, and Marco Asensio has emerged and is clearly a special talent.
So neither Gareth Bale nor Dani Carvajal have made the Real Madrid squad despite training this week. They will be in the stands as Zidane has brought his whole squad to this one, which is either a show of confidence or tempting fate. Isco is preferred to James Rodríguez in the front three.
Málaga are fronted by a graduate from Barcelona’s La Masia academy, Sandro Ramírez, who has 14 league goals this season. He said earlier this week: “I really hope I can score a goal and give Barça the league. I really hope that this dream comes true. I owe them everything.” A sub-plot waiting to happen.
Updated
The teams!
Málaga
Kameni; Torres, Hernández, Villanueva, Ricca; Camacho, Recio, Fornals, Keko, Jony; Sandro.
Subs Boyko, Demichelis, Juankar, Santos, Charles, Duda.
Real Madrid
Navas; Danilo, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo; Casemiro, Kroos, Modric; Isco, Ronaldo, Benzema.
Subs Casilla, Nacho, James, Kovacic, Vazquez, Asensio, Morata.
Updated
Preamble
There are no complicated permutations tonight. Real Madrid’s task is, on the face of it, a straightforward one: avoid defeat at Málaga and they will win the title. It would be the club’s first for five years and a fine achievement in Zinedine Zidane’s first full season in charge, with a Champions League final against Juventus still to come.
There are plenty of places Madrid would rather be than La Rosaleda, however, where Málaga have been excellent under manager Michel. Their season had not been the smoothest up to his arrival; Jaunde Ramos was dismissed during the winter break following a cup defeat to second-tier Córdoba and with the club 11th in La Liga. His assistant Marcelo Romero took over but won only one game before being sacked at the start of March.
When Michel arrived, Málaga’s form soon turned. Since 1 April they have lost only once, with six wins and a draw returning the club to mid-table. Scalps included Sevilla and crucially Barcelona, a 2-0 win which seemed to take the title beyond Barça’s grasp. Michel was delighted and not only for the three points; he is a Madridista to his core having spent 25 years at the club as man and boy and has made no secret of who he would prefer to win the title.
Barcelona have voiced concerns over Michel’s partizan views but the manager has promised his best work this evening: “The idea [of rolling over for Real Madrid] is ridiculous. Anyone who knows me knows I have nothing to do with that type of thing.” Barça still harbour hopes of stealing the title away in Luis Enrique’s final game in charge and they host Eibar this evening knowing they must win to have any hope, but the title is Real Madrid’s to lose.
Kick-off 7pm BST
Updated
