League of their own

Real clinch 29th Spanish title with victory over Bilbao

Real Madrid Factbox Founded: March 3, 1902 Spanish champions (29): 1932, 1933, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003 King's Cup winners (17): 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1917, 1934, 1936, 1946, 1947, 1962, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1989, 1993 European Cup winners (9): 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002 UEFA Cup winners (2): 1985, 1986 European Super Cup: 2002 World Club Cup (3): 1960, 1988, 2002 Coach: Vicente del Bosque President: Florentino Perez Most games: Manuel Sanchis, 524 Most goals: Hugo Sanchez, 234 Most expensive player: Zinedine Zidane ($66 million from Juventus in '01) Colors: All white Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu since 1947 Capacity: 75,000.

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Real Madrid won the Spanish league title for a record 29th time Sunday by beating Athletic de Bilbao 3-1 in the 38th and final round of matches.

Second-place Real Sociedad, which was bidding to win the title for the first time in 21 years, trounced Atletico de Madrid 3-0 but finished two points behind Madrid in the final standings.

Brazilian striker Ronaldo scored twice while his international teammate Roberto Carlos added another as Madrid gained its second title in three seasons. Bilbao's defeat cost it a place in the UEFA Cup next season.

"It's my first league. I feel really excited at the moment," Ronaldo, who had never previously played for a championship-winning side, told the radio station Cadena SER.

Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque, whose future will be discussed at a board meeting on Monday, said his team's triumph was due to "its hard work during the season."

"We've been very consistent. The fact we lost only four matches shows that we've done very well. We have played good soccer and have gained lots of points, enough to beat Real Sociedad which has had an excellent season. There have been very few low points," del Bosque said.

Sociedad's title quest ended in disappointment despite a victory in which striker Darko Kovacevic, midfielder Javi de Pedro and striker Nihat Kahveci scored second-half goals.

In another game Sunday, FC Barcelona clinched a UEFA Cup place by defeating Celta de Vigo 2-0.

Valencia and the winner of next Saturday's Copa del Rey final between Mallorca and Recreativo de Huelva will also compete in the UEFA Cup.

Madrid, Sociedad, Deportivo de La Coruna and Celta de Vigo will occupy the four Spanish berths in the Champions League.

Real Betis won 4-1 at Villarreal in Sunday's other league game.

Jubilant Real fans bring Madrid to standstill MADRID, Spain (Reuters) -- Thousands of jubilant Real Madrid fans brought the center of the Spanish capital to a standstill as they converged on the Cibeles fountain to celebrate their team's 29th league title triumph on Sunday. After over an hour of singing, dancing and flag waving in the streets surrounding the fountain, fans were joined by players who had paraded down the city's broad Castellana avenue in an all-white double decker bus with the word "champions" emblazoned on the side. Choreographed by two-goal hero Ronaldo and captain Fernando Hierro, the players then danced their way along a walkway set up around the traditional site used by the team to celebrate its triumphs. In a nerve-jangling final day of the Spanish league season Real clinched the title with a tense 3-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao. Real had gone into their final game just two points ahead of title rivals Real Sociedad and knowing they had to win at the Bernabeu to guarantee the title. Sociedad won their match at home to Atletico Madrid, but their impressive 3-0 victory proved to be of no avail given Real Madrid's victory. As soon as the final whistle was blown at the Bernabeu a sparkling display of blazing white fireworks was launched into the Madrid night sky. The players paraded around the pitch with a replica of the league trophy to the accompaniment of the club's centenary anthem sung by tenor Placido Domingo and a huge banner celebrating the 29th league title was placed in the centre circle. While the players were still doing their laps of honour at the Bernabeu thousands of fans flooded down the Madrid streets towards the huge plaza surrounding the Cibeles fountain to begin a long night of celebrations.

Madrid's triumph came after several of its players acknowledged this week that the timing of David Beckham's euro35 million (US$41 million) move from Manchester United was hindering their pre-match preparations.

Club president Florentino Perez, who has transformed Madrid since taking charge in 2000, said everyone at the club was "delighted."

"It's my second league in three years. I feel great satisfaction at what has been achieved. All I have wanted to do is to take the necessary measures. Next season, we'll win both the league and the Champions," Perez said.

Ronaldo, who was sporting the haircut which he made famous during last year's World Cup, gave Madrid an early boost in the ninth minute when he sidefooted home from a pass across goal by Roberto Carlos.

"The haircut brings me luck. I had it cut like in the World Cup final and in each match I scored two goals. I'm a bit superstitious," Ronaldo told Cadena SER.

Bilbao pressed hard for an equalizer and it got its reward in the 36th when midfielder Bittor Alkiza netted with a long shot which passed over Madrid captain Fernando Hierro's head and flew past goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Roberto Carlos restored Madrid's lead against the run of play with a powerful free kick from the edge of the penalty area in first-half injury time.

Madrid continued to struggle but Ronaldo calmed the nerves of his teammates in the 72nd minute and most of the 75,000 crowd when he seized on a pass by French midfielder Zinedine Zidane and fired an angled shot home.

The goal was the Brazilian's 23rd of the season, moving him into joint-second place in the scoring chart and six behind Deportivo de La Coruna's Roy Makaay.

"We began brilliantly but then struggled and Bilbao took control. Roberto Carlos' goal made us calmer and when Bilbao started to get tired we were able to play more easily," del Bosque said.

Bilbao's defeat capped a dismal week during which German coach Jupp Heynckes announced Tuesday he would leave the club and take over at Schalke, and club president Javier Uria died from cancer at the age of 41 the following day. Bilbao finished seventh with 55 points.

After a tense first half, Sociedad striker Kovacevic broke the deadlock in the 50th minute by chesting down a long ball from international midfielder Xabi Alonso and netting with an unstoppable volley.

Spanish international de Pedro doubled the lead five minutes later when he fired home unmarked.

The Basque team made sure of a bittersweet victory in the 73rd minute when Nihat danced past two Atletico defenders before flicking the ball home for his 23rd goal of the season.

Barcelona clinched a UEFA Cup place and continued its record of playing in European competition every season in front of Joan Laporta, who was attending the match as president for the first time.

The Catalan team took the lead in the seventh minute when Argentine international Juan Pablo Sorin glanced a header after Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert had nodded Marc Overmars' pass across goal.

Both teams were reduced to 10 men in the 27th minute when Celta midfielder Angel Lopez was ejected for an elbow on Dutch defender Frank de Boer and Kluivert quickly followed after scuffling with rival players.

Argentine striker Javier Saviola jinked his way through the Celta defense in the 51st minute to score the Catalan team's second goal.

Barcelona finished sixth with 56 points, while Celta finished fourth with 61.

Betis striker Dani Martin and midfielder Joaquin Sanchez each scored twice as Betis ended the season with a 4-1 win over Villarreal. Betis finished eighth with 54 points. Villarreal was 15th with 45.

Saturday's results were: Rayo Vallecano 0, Recreativo de Huelva 0; Mallorca 1, Malaga 0; Sevilla 0, Valencia 3; Alaves 1, Valladolid 1; Racing de Santander 2, Osasuna 3; and Deportivo de La Coruna 2, Espanyol 1.

 

Related information

Stories

Week at a Glance: England's gain Beckham: Real move won't affect England career World Soccer's Glanville: Man Utd behaving badly Valencia wins at Sevilla; Makaay scores 29th

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video