With a 4-0 win at home against Espanyol on Saturday, Real Madrid officially clinched the 2021-22 La Liga season title, the 35th in club history.
The day before the match, manager Carlo Ancelotti had expressed his desire to close it out: “We’re on match point and when the best tennis players get there, they make sure they win it.” With the win over Espanyol, Madrid served an ace to clinch the crown.
Now sitting 17 points above second-placed Sevilla and 18 above Barcelona, there are not enough points available for any of the pursuers to catch Los Blancos at this point..
The most decorated team in Spanish top-flight history, Real Madrid adds yet another trophy to its bulging case, and it is still alive in the semifinals of the Champions League and hoping for more.
The league title push this season was obviously a team effort, but it starts and ends with Karim Benzema’s sensational form.
The French talisman has spent much of his career at the Bernabeu in Cristiano Ronaldo’s shadow, but this season he has finally broken out and pushed for his own stardom.
Benzema began the season with nine goals in his team’s first eight La Liga matches, including a hat trick against Celta Vigo, and he has continued to lead the charge. He currently sits on 26 goals from 30 league matches so far this championship term.
Also transforming into a world-class player this season has been Vinicius Jr., who has become one of the first names on the Real Madrid team sheet. The Brazilian winger has become both a creative and goalscoring force and developed a critical partnership with Benzema up front.
Luka Modric has returned to his dominant midfield presence even at 36 years old, at a time when it appeared for a while that he had fallen off the pace.
And while Real Madrid’s defence hasn’t been the most stout in Europe, Eder Militao has emerged as a standout choice at centre-back.