Vinicius, Marcelo and Casemiro lift the La Liga title with Real Madrid

Zinedine Zidane’s side needed only two points from their final two fixtures to seal the title from rivals Barcelona, but managed it at the first time of asking with their win at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano. Having trailed Barca by two points prior to the coronavirus-enforced shutdown, Madrid have been in impeccable form since, […]
2020-07-17 14:55:00

Zinedine Zidane’s side needed only two points from their final two fixtures to seal the title from rivals Barcelona, but managed it at the first time of asking with their win at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano.

Having trailed Barca by two points prior to the coronavirus-enforced shutdown, Madrid have been in impeccable form since, winning  10 matches in a row to claim the title with one round of the competition remaining.

Against Villareal, Karim Benzema fired between the legs of Sergio Asenjo and added a controversial second from a retaken penalty.

In bizarre fashion, Sergio Ramos had rolled the first attempt for Benzema to smash in but the effort was disallowed.

Vicente Iborra pulled one back but it mattered little to Real as the club wrapped up their 34th Spanish title.

Vinicius, Marcelo and Casemiro were all key figures in the Los Blancos lineup from the start to the end of the season.

Casemiro was a workhouse and played the most minutes of any Real Madrid player. Marcelo was ever present and barely put in a bad shift as well. Elsewhere, teenager Vinicius Junior was also crucial in attack and chipped in with five goals and four assists in all competitions. One of those goals included a crucial one against Barcelona in the second leg of the El Clasico.

Head coach Zinedine Zidane could not hide his joy after his side’s triumph and even went on to say this particular title felt better than winning the Champions League.

“This is better than anything. It takes a tremendous effort to win La Liga,” said the Real Madrid boss.

“After 38 matches, you have more points than anyone else. After lockdown and everything, it’s astonishing.”