Real Madrid celebrates Spanish league title with fans after reaching Champions League final Arsenal take title race to final day
Real Madrid celebrated its Spanish league title with fans on Sunday, meeting with govern‐ ment officials and parading through the streets of the capital.
Madrid clinched its 36th league title last weekend, with four rounds to spare, but it couldn't celebrate the triumph right away because it still had to play the second leg of the semifinals of the Champions League.
Madrid rallied with two late goals by striker Joselu to defeat Bayern Munich 2‐1 on Wednes‐ day at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, advancing 3‐2 on ag‐ gregate to the final against Borussia Dortmund on June 1 in London.
"I'm sure that in three weeks we will be back here," Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos said while addressing the crowd on Sunday.
Several thousand fans greeted the squad as it paraded through the city and headed to the club's traditional celebration spot at Cibeles square. Team captain Nacho Fernández draped the statue of the goddess Cybele with a Madrid flag and scarf, then lifted the league trophy as fans cheered.
The trophy was handed to the team during a ceremony at the club's training center.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti wore a Real Madrid scarf and posed for photos with players while smok‐ ing a cigar and wearing sun glasses.
Madrid usually also celebrates its titles with fans at the Bern‐ abeu, but the stadium was being used for a concert on Sunday.
Madrid won 4‐0 at relegated Granada on Saturday, with Granada players keeping the guard of honor tradition of lining up to applaud the champions as they entered the field before kickoff.
Most players and club presi‐ dent Florentino Pérez spoke to the crowd, which chanted some of the team's traditional fighting songs.
"This team overcame a situa‐ tion that looked irreversible," Pérez said, referring to the series of injuries that affected players early in the season, including se‐ rious knee ligament tears by Thibaut Courtois, Éder Militão and David Alaba.
Nacho led a round of applause to the three injured players.
Arsenal beats Man United 1‑0 to take title race with Man City to final day of Premier League season
The Premier League title race will go to the last day of the sea‐ son after Arsenal returned to the top of the standings with a 1‐0 win at Manchester United on Sunday.
Leandro Trossard struck in the 20th minute at Old Trafford to ensure Arsenal will take defend‐ ing champion Manchester City to the final round of games next Sunday.
Anything other than a win against United for Mikel Arteta's team could have seen City clinch the title with victory at Totten‐ ham on Tuesday. Arsenal duly delivered and moved one point ahead of its title rival in second place.
Defeat for United was a latest blow for under pressure man‐ ager Erik ten Hag, whose team lost for the 14th time in the league this season and extended a damaging run that has seen it win just one of its last eight games in England's top division.
Arsenal benefited from slack defending from United when makeshift center back Casemiro was slow to push up and played Kai Havertz onside. The Ger‐ many forward took advantage and drove into the box before crossing for Trossard to convert from close range.
Arsenal will host Everton in the final round, when City is at home against West Ham.
For now, Arsenal has done all it could to keep the pressure on Pep Guardiola's team — improv‐ ing on last season when a late collapse by the Gunners allowed City to wrap up a third succes‐ sive title with three games to spare.
While the title is still in City's hands, it will have to win the re‐ maining two games to be certain of a record fourth‐straight Eng‐ lish league title.
Arsenal is aiming to be crowned champion for the first time since 2004, when Arsene Wenger's team went an entire league campaign without defeat to earn the nickname of the "In‐ vincibles."
The visit to Old Trafford always looked like its biggest test during the run‐in and history was not on Arsenal's side, having won only once in its last 16 games at the home of United. Even so, Ar‐ senal was the favorite to over‐ come a United team that had been ruthlessly exposed by Crys‐ tal Palace earlier in the week when routed 4‐0 at Selhurst Park.
Casemiro had received heavy criticism for his performance against Palace, but Ten Hag asked the Brazilian to reprise that role against Arsenal which has one of the most lethal attacks in the league.
It should not have come as a surprise that he was culpable as Arsenal took an early lead.
The bigger surprise was that Arteta's team did not build on that advantage and instead ceded long periods of possession to United, without ever looking likely to concede.
The second half was also short of openings until substitute Gabriel Martinelli weaved his way through United's box and forced Andre Onana to push away an effort that was heading for the top corner.
The United goalkeeper had to produce two more saves in quick succession — first to prevent Aaron Wan‐Bissaka from head‐ ing into his own net and then to palm away Declan Rice's long‐ range effort into the bottom cor‐ ner.