La Liga, Week 35: Barcelona clinch 22nd league title

Real held the lead until the 93rd minute when Recio scored on a solid effort from just inside the area to pull Granada even at 2-2.

It’s an important point for Granada who now move four points clear of the drop zone with just three weeks left to play in La Liga.

Los Che temporarily took over fourth place thanks to a 4-0 thumping of Rayo Vallecano. While Real Sociedad could retake the final Champions League spot with a win tomorrow, Valencia have at least put them under heavy pressure.

Rayo failed to keep pace with Betis for the final Europa League spot, falling six points back.

Barcelona were down 1-0 on the scoreboard and down a man after 67 minutes when Lionel Messi left the pitch with an injury, with all three subs had already been used. Despite the disadvantage, Barcelona fought back with two late goals to earn a 2-1 win, their third straight at the Vicente Calderón.

The result affected nothing in the league with Barcelona having already clinched the title and Atleti already locked in to third place, but Los Colchoneros were at least looking to gather some momentum going into Friday’s Copa del Rey final.

Joan Verdu’s seemingly mis-hit corner in the 23rd minute was salvaged by Sergio Garcia who stopped the ball and whipped it back in front on the net where Christian Stuani redirected it past Diego Lopez.

• Barcelona are champions of Spain

Translation: It’s over.

It’s been a tumultuous season at the Camp Nou with Barcelona struggling with injuries, defensive problems and the health of Vilanova, who missed time in the middle of the season as he dealt with a recurrence of cancer in his throat.

Lots of important happenings at the bottom of La Liga today as one team secured safety for next season while two others slipped closer to finding themselves out of the top flight. Here’s a recap of the action from Saturday in Spain.

Atheltic moved closer to securing safety for next season at the expense of last placed Mallorca today at the San Mamés. Aritz Aduriz gave Athletic an early lead but missed on a chance to double it in the 26th minute after having his penalty attempt saved . The penalty was setup by a handball by Fontás that earned him his second yellow card of the game and an early trip to the showers.

Zaragoza move two points clear of the drop zone into 16th place but could find themselves as low as 19th by the end of the weekend should results not go their way.

Levante were the slightly better side in the first half, coming close a couple times but failing to take advantage of their chances. Early in the second half Pape Diop clipped Víctor Rodríguez in the face with a high boot and was shown a straight red by the referee, leaving Levante to play the final 37 minutes a man down.

Can Barcelona finally claim the title? Will Sociedad lose their grip on fourth place and allow Valencia to overtake them? Can Deportivo La Coruña pull themselves back out of the drop zone? Questions will be answered this week in La Liga. Here’s a preview of all the action.

(21:00 CET, 3:00 p.m. ET)