By Akinwale Kasali
Their joy knew no bounds, as the Center Referee, Nunez Lahoz, blast the whistle to signal the end of the match at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Real Madrid Football Club of Spain players and officials ran into the Field in wild jubilation, alongside their team mates.
Coach Zinedind Zidane couldn’t hide his joy, as he joined in the frenzy.
The players ran towards him lifting him shoulder high for guiding the team to its Spanish La Liga Santander Trophy triumph.
Two goals from Karim Benzema, one in each half saw the ‘Galaticos’, defeating Villarreal 2-1 to lift the coveted league, with their arch rivals, Barcelona Football Club losing 1-2 at the Nou Camp Stadium to strugglers, Osasuna Football Club.
Real Madrid only needed a draw against Villarreal to be Crowned Champions, after leading the log with Four Points above the Catalan Giants.
With a game to spare at Leganes Football Club on the final day of the season, the Capital Club leads with Seven points.
A delighted Zidane said he is so happy, and the trophy was more important to him than the UEFA Champions League.
Zidane stressed that his side’s La Liga title win on Thursday, their 34th, tasted sweeter than any of the three Champions League crowns won under his watch.
“The Champions League is the Champions League but La Liga makes me happier, because La Liga is what it’s all about,” the Frenchman told Spanish network Movistar.
The title was the 11th trophy won by Zidane as Real coach and it was his second league triumph.
“This is a tremendous feeling because what these players have done is incredible. I am lost for words because I am too emotional.”
Zidane, who also won La Liga as a Real player, would take nothing away from his side’s achievement.
“We’ve been the best because we have got the most points and that’s all there is to say. For me it’s one of my best days as a professional,” he added.
“The players are the ones who have fought for this. It’s true I’ve played my role but they are the ones who believe in what they are doing.”
The title win was like no other for Real, which lifted the trophy at an empty Alfredo di Stefano stadium in their training ground, their temporary home while the Santiago Bernabeu undergoes renovation work.
The team will not be doing their usual open-top bus parade to the Cibeles fountain in the centre of Madrid either, in order to prevent the risk of spreading the coronavirus.
“It’s strange for everybody, we would have liked to have been with our fans at Cibeles but it’s not meant to be,” Zidane said.
“But I’m sure everyone is happy in their homes tonight. The fans always love to see the team win and we’ve done this for them.”
Club President, Florentino Perez, joined in the celebratory atmosphere after the match, lapping praise upon the team and Zidane whom he called “a blessing from heaven.”
Of Ramos’ status at the club, Perez added: “Sergio Ramos will be here for life… Everyone should be calm. He has been more than a captain.”
Ramos himself highlighted what a difficult season it has been due to coronavirus’ impact, but credited Zidane for keeping the team on course.
Meanwhile, reigning World Footballer of the Year, Lionel Messi, went ballistic, blasting his Barcelona Teammates for their abysmal performance so far.
The Argentine forward said, “we have been an erratic and weak team,” Messi said in a rare TV interview just after the final whistle sounded at an empty Camp Nou.
“We are a weak team who can be beaten with enough intensity and enthusiasm.
“Madrid did its part by winning all its matches, which is impressive, but we also helped them to win this league.
“We have to be critical of how we have played, starting with the players, and the rest of the club.”
Barcelona led the league by two points over Madrid when the league was stopped in mid-March for three months while Spain’s reined in its coronavirus outbreak.
Madrid returned to the competition motivated, and in shape, reeling off 10 straight wins.
Barcelona looked flat, drew three matches to lose the lead and, on Thursday, hit a new low when it lost its first home match since November 2018.
“The feeling on this team is that it tries, but that it cannot get the job done,” Messi said.
“Today in the first half they were better than we were and it seems we have to fall behind to react like we tried to do in the second half.”
Messi scored his league-leading 23rd goal from a free kick in the second half to cancel out José Arnaíz’s opener.
And Barcelona got a man advantage when the visitors lost substitute Enric Gallego to a straight red card for bloodying the mouth of Clement Lenglet with an elbow to the face in the 77th.
But Osasuna’s Roberto Torres scored in stoppage time with Barcelona pushing forward searching for a late goal.
“I said it some time ago, that playing like this we had no chance of winning the Champions League, and it turns out we didn’t even have enough to win La Liga,” Messi said.
“We need to take a breather, let some air in, and clean out minds of all that has happened since December.”
Barcelona must regroup for the second leg of its Champions League round-of-16 match against Napoli on Aug. 8. The first leg finished 1-1 in Naples, Italy.
“Playing like this we will lose against Napoli,” Messi said.
“We have to start from zero in the Champions League and blame ourselves for what went wrong”
