Thursday, March 28, 2024
Advertisement
  1. You Are At:
  2. News
  3. Sports
  4. Soccer
  5. Barcelona equals point record; Mourinho farewell

Barcelona equals point record; Mourinho farewell

Barcelona, Jun 2: Barcelona polished off its Spanish league title by equaling the record of 100 points with a 4-1 win over Malaga on Saturday, the final day of the season that featured several farewells

India TV News Desk India TV News Desk Updated on: June 02, 2013 8:59 IST
barcelona equals point record mourinho farewell
barcelona equals point record mourinho farewell

Barcelona, Jun 2: Barcelona polished off its Spanish league title by equaling the record of 100 points with a 4-1 win over Malaga on Saturday, the final day of the season that featured several farewells led by Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho.




A drama-filled late slate of matches also saw Real Sociedad edge out Valencia for fourth place and the last Champions League berth, while Mallorca, Deportivo La Coruna, and Real Zaragoza were all relegated.

Barcelona stormed to an insurmountable lead at Camp Nou to match the century points milestone set by Madrid last season.

"We are happy, we have had a very good season," said Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova. "The truth is that we were eliminated from the semifinals of the Champions League, but if we have to reach 100 points and score 115 goals to be happy, well then that's fine."

David Villa, Cesc Fabregas, Martin Montoya and Andres Iniesta all scored for Barcelona before Pedro Morales pulled one back for Malaga.

Earlier, Madrid beat Osasuna 4-2 in Mourinho's last game before his expected return to the English Premier League. Mourinho said goodbye to Madrid's fans with a brief statement on the club website wishing them "much happiness" and "good health."

Madrid, which never recovered from a poor start to the league campaign, finished the season in a distant second place 15 points behind Barcelona and without a major title after coming up short in the Champions League and Copa del Rey.

It was also the last appearance for Barcelona defender Eric Abidal, Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain, and Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini among others, with all set to change clubs this summer.

Sociedad manager Philippe Montanier ended his two years in San Sebastian by guiding his team into Europe's top tier competition along with Barcelona, Madrid, and Atletico Madrid after the Basque club won 1-0 at Deportivo from Antoine Griezmann's 22nd-minute goal.

Valencia needed a win at Sevilla to finish ahead of Sociedad, but it had to settle for fifth place and a Europa League spot after Alvaro Negredo scored four goals in a 4-3 win.

Coach Ernesto Valverde also announced that he would be leaving Valencia after taking the club over in December on a six-month contract.

Malaga ended in sixth place, but is barred from the European competition for one season, meaning that Real Betis in seventh and Rayo Vallecano in eighth will play in the Europa League unless the ban is overturned.

Celta Vigo escaped the drop zone with a 1-0 win over Espanyol from Natxo Insa's goal.

Celta's win made Mallorca's 4-2 victory over Valladolid moot, while Zaragoza was doomed after losing 3-1 to third-place Atletico.

Also, Rayo drew 2-2 with Athletic Bilbao, Granada downed Getafe 2-0, and Levante drew 1-1 with Betis.

Eric Abidal, who fought back from a liver transplant to rejoin Barcelona this season, went on at Camp Nou to a standing ovation to play his final 14 minutes for the club after it didn't offer to prolong his six-year stint.

Barcelona honored Abidal after the match along with his wife, daughters, and cousin Gerard who donated a part of his liver for his transplant last year.

"My family and I want to thank you for all the support you have shown me during these years," Abidal told the Camp Nou crowd. "I will always have you in my heart. Long live Barca! And long live Catalonia!"

The Santiago Bernabeu fans greeted Mourinho with a mix of applause and jeers, but even with Cristiano Ronaldo out with a back problem, his players made sure the Portuguese manager went out on a win.

Rumored to be heading to Juventus, Higuain scored what he later said was his 121st and last goal for Madrid in the 35th.

After the match Higuain said he was leaving Madrid after seven seasons, without specifying his destination.

Goalkeeper Ricardo Lopez went on for Osasuna late to play his final 15 minutes before retiring after 16 seasons. He conceded his final goal when Jose Callejon finished off a counterattack in the 87th.

Osasuna ensured its place in the top flight next season with a win in the previous round.
Advertisement

Read all the Breaking News Live on indiatvnews.com and Get Latest English News & Updates from Sports and Soccer Section

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement