Barcelona confirmed themselves as 2025-26 La Liga champions last night with victory in El Clasico at the Spotify Camp Nou.
Hansi Flick, whose father passed away prior to kick-off, made two changes to the side that won at Osasuna last weekend, with Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres drafted in. It was the former who struck the first blow in Catalonia, curling home a wonderful free-kick from the edge of the penalty area that returning Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois could not get close to.
Ten minutes later, it was 2-0. A fine team move saw Fermin Lopez play Dani Olmo in behind, and his backheel fell perfectly into the path of Torres, who made no mistake to fire beyond Courtois for Barcelona’s second goal of the evening.
Real Madrid tried their best to respond to falling two goals behind, and while Vinicius Junior threatened as usual, few chances fell to Alvaro Arbeloa’s side, who were missing injured striker Kylian Mbappe. It was Barcelona who went closest to a third, but Courtois denied Torres his brace with a fine close-range stop.
The second half saw little action beyond a few flashpoints between players. Real Madrid never looked like scoring, and a second clean sheet extended goalkeeper Joan Garcia’s lead in the race for the Zamora Trophy.
Barcelona have been by far the best team in La Liga this season. While they were left disappointed to miss out in the Champions League and Copa del Rey, they can take great satisfaction from their dominant league campaign.