Ancelotti makes history as Real win 35th Spanish League title
The Spanish club Real Madrid claimed a recordextending 35th La Liga title on Saturday as two goals in the opening half by Rodrygo led them to the 4-0 victory over mid-table Espanyol before enthusiastic home crowd at the crowd-pleasing Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Anceloti might have thought his days of winning Europe’s biggest leagues were a thing of the past but on Saturday he added La Liga to his glitering list of honours.
The victory also brought them Italian coach Anceloti the first manager to be awarded titles in each of the top five European leagues – England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France.
He also won the Premier League with Chelsea, Serie A with AC Milan, Ligue 1 with Paris SaintGermain and the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.
And while Anceloti’s Chelsea pipped Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United to the league by a single point in 2010 the others have all been won at a canter, with Real’s latest success another emphatic and long-expected title win for Anceloti to add to his CV.
Rodrygo’s two goals brought Real two goals ahead ater the break. Marco Asensio added a third ater 55 minutes . La Liga top goal scorer Karim Benzema secured the points in the 81st minute.
Captain Benzema took the trophy home ater being substituted during the second half when Anceloti let a number of regular players off while Real playing Manchester City in their Champions League semi-final second leg on Wednesday with a deficit of 4-3.
Real have 81 points and only four games let. Real are currently 17 points clear of Sevilla who are in second place Sevilla and 18 ahead of Barcelona with an advantage in their game and need a point against Espanyol to secure the title with less than one month remaining.
This was Barcelona’s first season without Lionel Messi and while the shell-shocked Catalans improved ater Xavi Hernandez was appointed coach in November, they remain a club in the midst of financial recovery and a team in the early stages of transition.
Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, never looked as comfortable as reigning champions as they did as challengers.
They spent the first half of the campaign wrestling with an identity crisis that again put the spotlight on Diego Simeone and ensured their title defence was over before it began.
Sevilla were Madrid’s closest rivals for the majority of the season but more in terms of points than pressure. Every time an opening appeared for Julen Lopetegui’s team to step forward, they blinked.
Record-breaking moment for the defender Marcelo who took home his 24th trophy with Real to surpass Gento for the position of the player with the most wins in trophy categories during the club’s history of 120 years.
“It’s an immense joy,” an emotional Marcelo spoke to reporters following the midst of the final of his 16 years at his Spanish club.
“We have won as early as possible, and that is everyone’s job to be celebrated”, Marcelo added and the players look toward the match against Manchester City next week.
“Today we have to celebrate, but we have an important game ahead. If we do it right, there is nothing to worry about.”
Anceloti believes that the celebrations will boost the spirits of the players to combat Pep Guardiola’s team.
“A celebration like this can bring an extra energy to the locker room, it can be good as another motivation facing such a difficult task against a great team,” Anceloti stated.
“The season has been spectacular. Lots of regularity. Consistency. I have to thank the players for their work and their atitude. Today we have to celebrate, not to talk. I want to celebrate.”
Whenflorentinoperezagreedtobringanceloti back for a second spell last year, many wondered if the appointment was overly-cautious, a backwards step among the cluster of super-clubs with younger and more progressive coaches at the helm.
But Anceloti’s gratitude for a return to a level he thought no longer possible in the twilight years of his career has reverberated at Real Madrid, his carefreeatitudecreatingasenseofaclubprotected from pressure and unaffected by outside noise.
“Thepresidentcalledmewhennobodyexpected it. I’m happy here, and we’re going to continue to take the club forward,” said Anceloti.
Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale were relegated to the sidelines with respect and without retribution.
A 4-0 defeat by Barcelona at home, for which Anceloti was at least partially responsible, could have undermined everything but instead it became a blip, the team responding and Anceloti recovering. “We didn’t lose our heads,” he said.
“Winning La Liga is special,” midfielder Luka Modric told Real Madrid TV, as he paid tribute to the fans who were unable to watch the club win the title in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Real’s triumph, sealed with a 4-0 win against Espanyol, ensured Anceloti becomes the only coach to have clinched all five major European league titles. He also won the EPL with Chelsea, Serie A with Milan, Ligue 1 with PSG and the Bundesliga with Bayern