Real Madrid clinch their 35th La Liga title with victory over Espanyol

A Rodrygo brace against Espanyol all but secured Real Madrid’s La Liga title by halftime, putting Los Blancos up two goals at the break on Saturday. Carlo Ancelotti’s team saw things through, winning 4-0, and clinching the La Liga title with four matches still to go in the season. And they did it despite resting regulars with an eye on their Champions League clash with Manchester City on Wednesday, which you can catch on Paramount+.

After basically leading the league from wire to wire, the title was all but expected from Ancelotti. Karim Benzema has paced the team leading La Liga in both goals and assists with 26 and 11 respectively. Vinicious Junior was right behind him with 14 goals and 11 assists as Real took care of business after losing out to Atletico Madrid last season. They won’t be happy overall without getting by Manchester City on Wednesday though, as the title has been all but a formality for months at this point in a year where both Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, their two usual competitors at the top, struggled.

Benzema, Dani Carvajal, Toni Kroos, Ferland Mendy, and Vinicius Junior were among those who started the day on the bench as Madrid rolled. Casemiro set off warning alarms early by hitting the post in the 13th minute before Rodrygo opened the scoring in the 33rd minute after an assist by Marcelo. Rodrygo would double his tally right before the half after Espanyol bungled things so that he could pick the ball off.

After the half, Real Madrid were having fun as Marco Asensio scored in the 55th minute before Benzema came off the bench to seal things in the 81st, assisted by none other than Vini Jr. a combination that has paid off for Real Madrid all season made sure they would be heard from in the title clincher.