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Grieving Hansi Flick Leads Barcelona to La Liga Title With Win Over Real Madrid
Watched by its grieving coach, Barcelona won its second straight Spanish league title and 29th overall with a comfortable 2-0 win over Real Madrid at Camp Nou on Sunday, adding to its rivals troubled season. Goals by Marcus Rashford in the ninth minute and Ferran Torres in the 18th gave Barcelona the victory and an insurmountable 14-point advantage over its fierce rival with three rounds remaining in La Liga. Barcelona coach Hansi Flick was in the dugout for Sundays clsico following the death of his father, which Barcelona announced hours before kickoff. Players from both teams wore black armbands and there was a moment of silence before kickoff. A draw would also have been enough for the Catalan club to seal its third league title in four seasons. Madrid, which remains the most successful club in the league with 36 trophies, is ending a second consecutive season without a major title. Sundays defeat at Barcelona capped an embarrassing week for Madrid, marked by altercations between players in training that led the club to fine Federico Valverde and Aurlien Tchouamni 500,000 euros ($589,000) each. Rashford opened the scoring for the hosts with a wonderfully taken free kick, curling the ball over the wall and into the top corner. Torres added to the lead from inside the area after a flick from Dani Olmo. Flicks father reportedly died overnight. The coach celebrated Barcelonas goals and looked emotional after the final whistle. "I will never forget this day. It was a tough day for me. It starts with this (news that) my father passed away, but here, my team is fantastic," Flick said. "I really love it, this is like a family and they gave everything today and Im really proud. Its amazing, in this stadium, and also in the clsico against Real Madrid, to win La Liga." There was a brief scuffle between players in the 51st minute after Olmo confronted a Madrid player. Olmo was shown a yellow card. Madrids Jude Bellingham had a goal disallowed for offside in the 63rd. Brazil forward Raphinha replaced Rashford in the 64th to return from a long injury layoff. Barcelona has been playing the final league games without the injured Lamine Yamal, its biggest star. Yamal was on the field lifting the trophy along with his teammates. Madrid was without the injured Kylian Mbapp, the leagues leading scorer with 24 goals. The France forward failed to recover from a left-hamstring ailment that has kept him sidelined since late April. Mbapp last week addressed a fresh wave of criticism of him in Spain, insisting he was fully committed to the club and to recovering from his latest injury. Some Madrid fans had expressed concern that the France forward was saving himself for the upcoming World Cup. He posted a story during Sundays game while it was being shown on a television, along with supporting words for the club and a white heart. Madrid was also without Valverde, who hurt his head in the altercation with Tchouamni after allegedly accidentally knocking his head on a table. It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training last week. lvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a "minor" incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rdiger got into a scuffle. The loss in Sundays clsico is likely to increase criticism of coach lvaro Arbeloa, who was promoted from Madrids reserve team when Xabi Alonso was fired in January. Singer-songwriters Olivia Rodrigo and Nathy Peluso were among the celebrities at the stadium. Rodrigo, an American multi-Grammy winner, had her logo appearing in the teams jersey as part of the clubs partnership with Spotify. Barcelona this season also won the Spanish Super Cup. It has won 11 consecutive games in the league. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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