Real Madrid wins 34th La Liga title

La Liga's ending couldn’t have come at a better time for Real Madrid. In just the seven games before the break brought on by the pandemic, it went out of the Copa del Rey to Real Sociedad, lost the home leg of its Champions League last-16 tie against Manchester City, and dropped seven points in five league games. Crucially, though, it did beat Barcelona 2-0 in El Clasico, a result that went a long way toward its ability to claim La Liga's title on Thursday with a 2-1 victory over Villarreal.

How does the game go?

Since, past two months, Sergio Ramos has arguably enjoyed the best spell even of his illustrious career. In those 10 games, Madrid has conceded only four goals. Defensively, Madrid looks solid. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois again looks assured. Karim Benzema is in a rich vein of goalscoring form. For instance that 2-1 deficit to Man City in the Champions League doesn’t appear nearly as insurmountable as it did at the time.

Atletico Madrid beat Getafe 2-0 away in its penultimate La Liga game on Thursday to continue its relentless run of form. Marcos Llorente put Diego Simeone's side in front early in the second half before substitute Thomas Partey scored in the 80th minute, sealing Atletico's seventh win in 10 matches. Therefore, the third-placed Atletico, which had already sealed a top-four finish and qualification for next season's Champions League, moved on to 69 points after 37 matches, two ahead of fourth-placed Sevilla who drew 0-0 at Real Sociedad.

The strangest thing about the moment Real Madrid clinched its 34th Spanish league title on Thursday wasn’t the computer-generated fans in the stands or the made-for-television crowd but yes they clinched the title at all.