Espanyol did their very best to dampen and disrupt Barcelona’s celebrations after Hansi Flick’s men defeated their bitter rivals to secure a 28th La Liga title.
Barca entered tonight’s contest knowing victory would secure an unassailable lead over Real Madrid at the top of the table – and Lamine Yamal was once again the star of the show, inspiring his side to a 2-0 win.
The 17-year-old winger continued his remarkable run of form with an exquisite curled effort beyond Joan Garcia to open the scoring in the 53rd minute and Fermin Lopez increased the deficit late on to put the game to bed.
Hosts Espanyol had been reduced to ten men for the closing stages of the clash after Leandro Cabrera was shown a straight red card for a swinging arm which caught Yamal in the stomach.
But there were jubilant scenes just ten minutes later as referee Cesar Soto Grado blew his whistle to signal full-time, crowning Barcelona as the new champions of Spanish football.
Just as Barca’s players and coaching staff congregated beside the centre circle and began celebrating their feat, though, several sprinklers inside Espanyol’s RCDE Stadium began spurting out water in every direction.
Fortunately, Hansi’s squad appeared to see the funny side and began dancing and singing while getting well and truly drenched, determined not to let it ruin their party.
Shortly after, Flick was seen ushering his soggy title-winning stars off the pitch and back down the tunnel so they could continue their celebrations in the dressing room.
‘Now I can enjoy myself. During matches I’m always under stress… I’ll be relaxed now,’ a beaming Flick said of Barca’s title triumph.
‘I don’t think I have enough time to explain what I’m most proud of. Basically, I emphasise the family we have here, the family we’ve created, and how we do everything with so much passion and a very good mindset, which has led us to achieve our goal.
‘It’s fantastic to see the family we’ve created, where everyone cares about each other. I think we’ve created something truly unique.’
The derby was somewhat overshadowed by horrendous scenes before kick-off, with videos shared on social media showing a car plough into a crowd of fans outside the ground.
Initial reports in Spain indicate that there were no serious injuries resulting from the collision and Catalan police are working with the hypothesis that the driver simply lost control of their vehicle.
Barcelona will be able to enjoy the title win with their fans on Sunday when they play host to Villarreal in their penultimate match of the Spanish top-flight campaign.
Flick’s side end their season away to Athletic Bilbao, who secured their place in next year’s Champions League with a 2-0 victory over Getafe this evening.
‘It’s not over yet. We still have two games left and we want to finish the season in a champion-like manner,’ Flick added.
‘Sunday, we go again against Villarreal and then we face Athletic Bilbao.
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