- Barcelona fell 4-2 defeat to Girona on Saturday evening
- Xavi's side needed to win to prevent Real Madrid from winning the title
- Blaugrana gave up a 2-1 lead and collapsed late on
Barcelona fell to a shock 4-2 defeat away at Girona on Saturday evening, handing Real Madrid the La Liga title in the process.
After Carlo Ancelotti's side beat Cadiz 3-0 earlier in the day, Barcelona knew anything less than a victory against Girona would hand their arch rivals the title, but Xavi's side threw away a 2-1 lead in spectacular fashion to gift Madrid the famous trophy.
How the game unfolded
It took Barcelona just three minutes to fire themselves into the lead in spectacular fashion. Christensen collected a high pass on the edge of the penalty area, took one touch with his chest to control the ball and unleashed a sensational volley which fizzed into the bottom corner.
However, the celebrations lasted less than 60 seconds as Girona went straight down the other end and set up star striker Artem Dovbyk for a simple header to tie things up.
Christensen nearly restored the lead with a header than Paulo Gazzaniga had to scramble away from his line, before Ilkay Gundogan saw a header of his own crash against the top of the crossbar and behind.
Lamine Yamal went down on the edge of the penalty area and was not initially awarded a penalty, but a VAR check determined he had been stripped. Lewandowski went to the spot and slotted into the bottom corner to put Barca 2-1 ahead at the break.
Joao Cancelo saw a low shot pushed away early in the second half as Barcelona tried to stop Girona's confidence from growing, but the hosts were good value for their equaliser shortly after the hour mark.
Sergi Roberto's poor pass back to goal was intercepted by Dovbyk, whose lay-off to Portu was calmly fizzed beyond the scrambling Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Girona immediate bagged a third through former Real Madrid youngster Gutierrez, with Los Blancos 23 minutes away from winning the title after his deflected effort ended up in the back of the net.
Barcelona's game began to unravel at that point and Girona added a fourth with 15 minutes to go. Portu, only off the bench shortly before his first goal, fizzed an unbelievable volley across goal which left Ter Stegen glued to the spot. Probably the goal of the season.
Jules Kounde had to clear off the line late on as the score threatened to get embarrassing for Barcelona, but the 4-2 defeat was painful enough as Madrid fans around the globe started their celebrations.
Barcelona player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Marc-Andre ter Stegen - 4/10 - Didn't really get much wrong but failed to inspire any sort of confidence at the back.
RB: Jules Kounde - 4/10 - Unfortunate to see Girona's third end up in the back of the net after hitting his leg, but it was far from a convincing performance from Kounde.
CB: Ronald Araujo - 3/10 - His challenging run of form continued here. Araujo was beaten for the equaliser and never really looked comfortable.
CB: Pau Cubarsi - 5/10 - You could see the effort but Cubarsi looked like an inexperienced teenager here. Dovbyk's aerial threat was too much for him.
LB: Joao Cancelo - 5/10 - A tricky one. Cancelo was really impactful in attack but was also clearly targeted defensively. Probably won as many battles as he lost.
DM: Andreas Christensen - 7/10 - An outrageous goal from the natural centre-back. Looked comfortable at the base of midfield.
CM: Sergi Roberto - 5/10 - Largely one of those impressive, quiet performances, but Roberto flung himself into the spotlight with a poor back-pass which put Girona into the ascendancy.
CM: Ilkay Gundogan - 6/10 - A nice showing on the ball. Unfortunate not to find the back of the net himself.
RW: Lamine Yamal - 7/10 - Once again, Yamal was the primary force in attack for Barcelona. His tricky feet were too much for Girona. Won the penalty for the second goal.
ST: Robert Lewandowski - 6/10 - Far from his best performance but Lewandowski still made an impact from the penalty spot.
LW: Fermin Lopez - 6/10 - Not a natural winger but did pretty much everything you'd want from a player out wide. Put a real shift in and looked comfortable when given the chance to get on the ball.
Substitutes
SUB: Raphinha (68' for Christensen) - 5/10
SUB: Pedri (68' for Fermin) - 5/10
SUB: Oriol Romeu (79' for Roberto) - N/A
SUB: Ferran Torres (79' for Lewandowski) - N/A
SUB: Joao Felix (84' for Yamal) - N/A
Subs not used: Inaki Pena (GK), Diego Kochen (GK), Hector Fort, Inigo Martinez, Marcos Alonso, Vitor Roque
Manager
Xavi - 3/10 - Ouch. Barcelona never really looked like they had control of this game, and the manner in which the team collapsed under pressure late on needs to be examined at length.
