By Sid Lowe, at the Camp Nou, & David Hytner, at the London Stadium
This time it was Marcus Rashford who delivered the knockout blow, on Sunday, 10 May.
Three days after the fight between Fede Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni that ended with Real Madrid’s vice captain (Valverde) taken to hospital and the crisis at the club laid painfully bare for all to see, they went to the Camp Nou and finally relinquished the league title they had effectively lost long ago.
For the first time in 94 years a meeting of sport’s greatest rivals decided La Liga, 62,000 fans starting the party as goals from the Englishman and Ferran Torres took Hansi Flick’s team over the line with three games to spare.
For Madrid, at least it was over, nothing left to hold on to. They had avoided it happening last week by beating Espanyol, just across the city limits, sparing themselves from having to hand their rivals a guard of honour before the game but they knew they couldn’t avoid it for ever.
Now all they could aspire to was preventing them from beginning the title party in their presence, but like so much else this campaign, that was beyond them, and so a second successive season closes without a trophy, and on the worst possible stage.
Barcelona had taken the first step on the night early, the opening goal coming on nine minutes, and never looked back.
Rashford Scores A Beautiful Freekick
If this is to be just a one-year loan for Rashford, what a way to sign off: with a clásico goal to win the championship. And what a goal, too. From the right edge of the Madrid area,he stood over the ball.
Before him, four men in the wall, another lying on the turf behind it, and, behind them, the best goalkeeper in the world.
None of them could stop him, a superb free-kick flying in a long arc outwards and into the far corner.
The Englishman raced towards the bench, pursued by his teammates. It was his 14th goal of the season in Spain; there have been 14 assists too.
How Second Goal Was Hatched
Speaking of assists, the one that Dani Olmo provided for Barcelona to double the lead ten minutes later was gorgeous.
Leaping to connect with the clipped ball into the Madrid box, he guided it, on the volley, through his legs to Torres. Alone near the penalty spot, Torres controlled and smashed it past Thibaut Courtois. The place went wild, smelling blood.
While this looked like it might get ugly for Madrid – if no more ugly than their week had already been – they did react while Barcelona’s front-footed approach meant there was a path to pursue too.
So it was that Gonzalo García should have pulled one back when a Raúl Asencio ball in behind Pau Cubarsí set him clean through only for the shot to slip wide. A moment later, Jude Bellingham almost escaped to set up Vinícius Júnior.
Pedri sought to provide a little more control and Barcelona looked to turn the screw. A sharp turn saw Torres drop deep and release Rashford up the right, and when Rashford is released no one can catch him – including his teammates.
The fastest player in La Liga raced clear and while he could have laid it across to Fermín López, his teammate still had not quite arrived into position. Rashford struck hard, low, and just beyond the far post. Courtois’ touch had been decisive and from the corner, Olmo sliced wide.
Second Half
The second half brought an early confrontation when Olmo pushed over Asencio, and the players piled in, Tchouaméni hanging back.
Then a Trent Alexander-Arnold ball found Bellingham who was laid out by a stray elbow from Eric García. Next there were words between Gavi and Bellingham. Perhaps surprisingly, this was still a game.
Courtois Keeps Madrid In The Game , Real Fight Back
Torres might have made it 3-0, only for Courtois to stretch out a foot to deny him. When Bellingham controlled Brahim Díaz’s pass and scored just after the hour, the flag was up. One of five men offside, Bellingham knew as much, left tearing at his shirt in frustration.
Almost immediately, Cubarsí made a mess of a simple long ball from Asencio to allow Vinícius in. The Brazilian, though, was unable to lift over Joan García. Gerard Martín, so often the man tidying up, then had to chase down Díaz.
Time slipped away, and as Barcelona’s control returned so too did the olés, the expression of an incontestable superority that lasted almost all season long.
Soon they were followed by a chorus of ‘campeones, campeones’. Twice Barcelona might have scored again but it did not matter, the roar huge at the whistle.
Up in the directors’ box sat the president of the league, Javier Tebas, and the president of the Spanish football federation, Rafael Louzán, here on official duty.
Alongside them, was the president of the international boxing federation, Mauricio Sulaimán. Florentino Pérez, the president of Real Madrid, was not.
When it was all over – the clásico and the title race – they came down, handed out the trophy and the celebrations began. By then, Madrid had departed. They had done some time ago.
EPL Now Arsenal’s To Lose
In England, it was the most extraordinary finale to an occasion when the tension seemed to override everything. The spectacle suffered. Was there even one to speak of? It came to feel purely like a slow stumble towards the end; towards something decisive.
Then there we were, the players from each team standing on the sideline behind referee Chris Kavanagh as he pored over the replay monitor on the advice of the video assistant referee, Darren England; his heart hammering, like that of everyone else.
Arsenal led 1-0 through Leandro Trossard’s 83rd-minute goal – his first of 2026 – which had come shortly after David Raya produced a critical one-on-one save to deny Mateus Fernandes. Now West Ham had their lifeline. Or had they?
It all came down to Kavanagh’s interpretation of the moment when West Ham sent their goalkeeper, Mads Hermansen, forward for an all-or-nothing 95th-minute corner and, amid a melee of bodies, Callum Wilson, on as a substitute, lashed a shot at goal. It did not hit the net but when Kavanagh felt his wrist-watch buzz, he knew the ball had gone over the line.
In the home sections there was delirium. West Ham could sense something positive in their relegation battle with Tottenham.
The problem for West Ham on the corner, as Kavanagh would be made aware, was that another substitute, Pablo, had gone to challenge with an arm stretched out across Raya, who cried foul. Loudly. So did everybody connected to Arsenal.
Kavanagh took an age over the decision and as he deliberated, it was no exaggeration to say the title was on the line. Perhaps the final relegation place, as well.
Manchester City had dialled up the pressure on Arsenal with their 3-0 win over Brentford on Saturday. City watched and waited, too. So did Spurs. Where would Kavanagh land? The answer was probably in the right place, however hard it was on West Ham, however tough the process was for them to stomach.
Eventually, Kavanagh drew the outline of a TV in the air and announced, via his microphone, that Pablo had indeed fouled Raya.
Kavanagh was immediately drowned out by the furious West Ham fans, who are now starring into the abyss.
They had needed something from their team to give them hope in the battle against Spurs. Instead, they felt only the lowest of blows. The focus will now turn to Tottenham’s home game against Leeds on Monday night.
Arsenal, by contrast, departed with the feeling that their name could be on the trophy. This had the trappings of their hardest remaining game in the battle for a first title since 2004.
West Ham have been in good form since the middle of January and their desire to make life as uncomfortable as possible for Arsenal was reinforced by Nuno Espírito Santo’s switch to a three centre-half system. It worked well.
Win here and Arsenal would almost be home with the trophy. That was the sense beforehand. They have only relegated Burnley to play at home before they finish at Crystal Palace, who will surely have their eyes on their Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano, which comes three days afterwards.
Arsenal are almost there. It was not pretty, the anxiety back with a vengeance after a positive opening quarter to the game. But after a joyful week that has seen them advance past Atlético Madrid into a Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain, they got over the line. They remain on track.
*PHOTO CAPTION: A youthful Barca side celebrate their second consecutive La Liga trophy…on Sunday.
RESULTS OF OTHER MATCHES PLAYED ACROSS EUROPE SUNDAY, 10 MAY
ENGLAND: Premier League
Burnley – Aston Villa 2:2
Crystal Palace – Everton 2:2
Nottingham – Newcastle 1:1
West Ham – Arsenal 0:1
FRANCE: Ligue 1
Angers – Strasbourg 1:1
Auxerre – Nice 2:1
Le Havre – Marseille 0:1
Metz – Lorient 0:4
Monaco – Lille 0:1
PSG – Brest 1:0
Rennes – Paris FC 2:1
Toulouse – Lyon 2:1
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Hamburger SV – Freiburg 3:2
FC Koln – Heidenheim 1:3
Mainz – Union Berlin 1:3
ITALY: Serie A
Verona – Como 0:1
Cremonese – Pisa 3:0
Fiorentina – Genoa 0:0
Parma – AS Roma 2:3
AC Milan – Atalanta 2:3
NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie
Ajax – Utrecht 1:2
Excelsior – FC Volendam 1:1
Feyenoord – AZ Alkmaar 1:1
G.A. Eagles – PSV 1:4
Groningen – Nijmegen 2:1
AbandonedNAC Breda – Heerenveen 2:0
Sittard – Zwolle 3:2
Telstar – Heracles 3:0
Twente – Sparta Rotterdam 4:0
SPAIN: LaLiga
Mallorca – Villarreal 1:1
Ath Bilbao – Valencia 0:1
Oviedo – Getafe 0:0
Barcelona – Real Madrid 2:0
