Spanish La Liga
GranadaGranada0BarcelonaBarcelona3

Granada 0-3 Barcelona

By Alan JewellBBC Sport
Barcelona players celebrate a Luis Suarez goal against Granada
Barcelona scored 24 goals without reply in their final five La Liga games

Barcelona pipped bitter rivals Real Madrid to the La Liga title thanks to a Luis Suarez hat-trick at Granada.

Barca's fifth victory in a row ensured they won the league by one point from Real, who beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-0.

Suarez tapped in, powered home a header and slotted Neymar's pass to give him La Liga's golden boot with 40 goals.

Barca, nine points clear on 1 April, will seal a second straight league and cup double if they beat Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final on Sunday, 22 May.

Deadly Suarez banishes early nerves

Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez scored 14 goals in the final five league games of the season

Barca could easily have felt tense during the final-day decider, especially when Cristiano Ronaldo scored early in La Coruna to give Real the advantage.

A Gerard Pique header and Lionel Messi shot were turned away by Granada keeper Andres Fernandez as Barca dominated the early stages.

Suarez, who started the day four clear of Ronaldo in the race for Trofeo Pichichi - La Liga's golden boot - eased any nerves when he was left unmarked to tap in Jordi Alba's cross in the 22nd minute.

Granada offered virtually no threat throughout and the game was as good as over when Dani Alves brilliantly hooked the ball across for Suarez to flash home a near-post header before half-time.

The Uruguayan completed his treble four minutes from the end when Neymar's unselflish flicked pass offered him an empty net.

Suarez's total of 40 is more than anybody has scored in a La Liga season other than Messi and Ronaldo.

Barca regain their form when it matters

Luis Suarez scoring his third goal
Suarez's third goal against Granada means he has scored eight hat-tricks for Barca in all competitions this season

Before the second El Clasico of the season on 2 April, Barcelona were unbeaten in 39 games, nine points clear at the top of the table and bidding to become the first team to successfully defend the Champions League title.

But a 2-1 defeat by Real Madrid at the Nou Camp sparked a dramatic fall for the Catalan club. Within 15 days they were out of Europe and only top of La Liga by virtue of head-to-head difference after three successive defeats.

However, they responded by winning five in a row, scoring 24 goals and conceding none.

The history men

Barcelona players celebrate their third goal
Andres Iniesta (top) was appointed Barcelona captain at the start of this season

While Suarez has taken on the mantle of Barca's talisman this season from Messi, the Argentine still contributed 26 league goals, and Neymar 24.

Between them, the 'MSN' scored 90 of their 112 La Liga goals.

A third of Barca's La Liga victories have come with Messi and captain Andres Iniesta in the team.

The Catalans won the title 16 times in the first 75 years of the competition, and have won eight more since Messi and Iniesta came into the side, starting with the 2004-05 crown.

Iniesta said: "We have suffered until the end but it is glorious, to win six league titles in eight years with the same style."

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar scored 90 league goals between them this season
Barcelona players celebrating winning La Liga
Barcelona players celebrate their 24th La Liga success
Fans invade the pitch
Fans from both teams invaded the Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes pitch after full-time

Line-ups

Granada

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 13FernándezBooked at 74mins
  • 2Rodríguez Lombán
  • 6Babin
  • 24Moreira da CostaBooked at 77minsSubstituted forDoria Macedoat 80'minutes
  • 18Almeida Costa Lopes
  • 16DoucouréBooked at 54mins
  • 20Pérez del MármolBooked at 62mins
  • 23Rochina NaixesSubstituted forCuenca Lópezat 45'minutes
  • 4Rico CastroBooked at 65mins
  • 27Peñaranda
  • 9El-ArabiSubstituted forBarral Torresat 77'minutes

Substitutes

  • 3Biraghi
  • 8Márquez Moreno
  • 12Doria Macedo
  • 15Barral Torres
  • 19Cuenca López
  • 21Krhin
  • 25Fernández Collado

Barcelona

Formation 4-3-3

  • 1ter Stegen
  • 6Alves da Silva
  • 3PiquéBooked at 74mins
  • 14MascheranoSubstituted forMathieuat 75'minutes
  • 18Alba
  • 4RakiticSubstituted forTuranat 79'minutes
  • 5BusquetsBooked at 19minsSubstituted forRoberto Carnicerat 87'minutes
  • 8Iniesta
  • 10Messi
  • 9Suárez
  • 11Neymar

Substitutes

  • 7Turan
  • 12Rafinha
  • 17El Haddadi
  • 20Roberto Carnicer
  • 22Vidal Parreu
  • 24Mathieu
  • 25Masip
Referee:
Alejandro José Hernández Hernández
Attendance:
20,552

Match Stats

Home TeamGranadaAway TeamBarcelona
Possession
Home34%
Away66%
Shots
Home8
Away12
Shots on Target
Home2
Away10
Corners
Home5
Away6
Fouls
Home12
Away10

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Granada CF 0, Barcelona 3.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Granada CF 0, Barcelona 3.

  3. Post update

    David Barral (Granada CF) hits the right post with a left footed shot from the left side of the box. Assisted by Isaac Cuenca with a through ball following a set piece situation.

  4. Post update

    Foul by Dani Alves (Barcelona).

  5. Post update

    Isaac Cuenca (Granada CF) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  6. Post update

    Attempt saved. David Barral (Granada CF) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Fran Rico with a cross.

  7. Post update

    Jordi Alba (Barcelona).

  8. Post update

    Miguel Lopes (Granada CF) wins a free kick on the right wing.

  9. Post update

    Attempt saved. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) left footed shot from very close range is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Neymar.

  10. Substitution

    Substitution, Barcelona. Sergi Roberto replaces Sergio Busquets.

  11. Goal!

    Goal! Granada CF 0, Barcelona 3. Luis Suárez (Barcelona) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Neymar.

  12. Post update

    Offside, Barcelona. Lionel Messi tries a through ball, but Neymar is caught offside.

  13. Substitution

    Substitution, Granada CF. Doria replaces Ricardo Costa.

  14. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Lombán (Granada CF) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

  15. Post update

    Corner, Granada CF. Conceded by Dani Alves.

  16. Substitution

    Substitution, Barcelona. Arda Turan replaces Ivan Rakitic.

  17. Post update

    Corner, Granada CF. Conceded by Jordi Alba.

  18. Substitution

    Substitution, Granada CF. David Barral replaces Youssef El-Arabi.

  19. Booking

    Ricardo Costa (Granada CF) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  20. Post update

    Gerard Piqué (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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Scores, Results & Fixtures

Saturday 14th May 2016

As It Stood

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Barcelona382945112298391
2Real Madrid382864110347690
3Atl Madrid38284663184588
4Villarreal371810944331164
5Ath Bilbao381881258451362
6Celta Vigo38179125159-860
7Sevilla381410145150152
8Real Sociedad38139164548-348
9Malaga371112143434045
10Las Palmas37128174449-544
11Valencia381111164648-244
12Eibar371110164757-1043
13Dep La Coruña38818124561-1642
14Real Betis371012153251-1942
15Espanyol37117193672-3640
16Granada38109194669-2339
17Getafe3799193665-2936
18Sporting Gijón3799193862-2436
19Rayo Vallecano37811184972-2335
20Levante3788213667-3132
View full Spanish La Liga table