Granada 0-3 Barcelona: Luis Suarez Hat-trick Helps Barca To 24th La Liga Title
Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick as Barcelona claimed their 24th La Liga title with a 3-0 win over Granada to pip rivals Real Madrid by a point.
The Uruguayan finished from close range on 22 minutes before converting a header from Dani Alves’ fine cross before the break, and then easily rounded off the win late on from Neymar’s unselfish play.
The treble took Suarez’s final goal tally to 40 in La Liga and secures him the ‘Pichichi’ top scorer crown ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Real Madrid needed to win at Deportivo and hope Barcelona stumbled – and Zinedine Zidane’s side did their bit with a 2-0 victory thanks to a double from Ronaldo.
The result hands Barcelona their second successive title and, despite Champions League disappointment, they can claim a domestic double when they face Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final on Sunday, May 22.
Going into the game one point ahead of Real and with a superior head-to-head record, Barcelona raced out of the blocks to take control.
Gerard Pique saw his header from point-blank range saved well by Andres Fernandez after eight minutes, before Ronaldo gave Real the lead in La Coruna.
Fernandez then tipped over Lionel Messi’s right-footed effort from 20 yards, but the visitors were ahead midway through the first half.
After being released by Neymar on the left wing, Jordi Alba centred across the face of goal for Suarez, who converted into the empty net from six yards.
Real then went 2-0 up through Ronaldo, and Barcelona replied like-for-like with a second of their own through Suarez.
Andres Iniesta’s superb diagonal was kept in play by Alves on the right byline, and his fine cross found the head of Suarez, who got to the ball ahead of goalkeeper Fernandez to convert with ease.
Fernandez was winning his personal battle with Messi at least, beating away the Argentine’s superb free-kick from 25 yards after the break, before Marc-Andre ter Stegen was put into action for the first time in the game, parrying Fran Rico’s one-on-one effort away from goal.
Neymar forced Fernandez into another fine save down low to his left and the Brazilian stretched to turn the ball towards goal from Suarez’s pass, but Barcelona wrapped up the title with four minutes remaining.
Having been put through on goal with Suarez for company, Neymar unselfishly handed his team-mate the ball to convert into the empty net for 3-0, his 59th goal of the season in all competitions.
Barca’s rivals Real Madrid have now won just three La Liga titles in 13 years, while Barcelona have claimed eight in that time and 24th overall.
BBC SPORTS