REAL MADRID

Real Madrid football club players celebrate their 31st league title win in Madrid on May 4, 2008. Thousands of Real Madrid fans converged on the famous Cibeles fountain in the Spanish capital on May 4 to celebrate after a 2-1 win over Osasuna.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008 MADRID:

Real Madrid were crowned Spanish champions for the 31st time on Sunday after defeating Osasuna 2-1 after scoring twice in a sensational final three minutes.

Real were heading for defeat after Francisco Punal scored an 83rd minute penalty against ten men Real, who had Fabio Cannavaro sent off, but the champions responded with Arjen Robben and Gonzalo Higuain scoring in the dying minutes. Real retain the championship with three games left to play and can go into Wednesday’s home match with arch rivals Barcelona in relaxed mood. After watching Barcelona win successive titles Real have now followed suit and captain Raul Gonzalez is likely to lift the championship trophy on Wednesday. It is a first league title for Real coach Bernd Schuster in his maiden season after taking over from the sacked Fabio Capello in the summer. Barcelona put their Champions League disappointment behind them crushing Valencia 6-0 on Sunday as they warmed up for Wednesday’s ‘El Clasico’ against Real. Barcelona stayed within four points of second-placed Villarreal, who won 2-0 against Getafe, with a fine display. Barca scored three times against Valencia in the opening quarter hour. Lionel Messi won and then converted a penalty on five minutes before Xavi (8) and Thierry Henry (14) struck to wrap up the game early on. Henry added a second and Bojan Krkic grabbed a brace as Valencia fell apart. The only downside for Barca is that Samuel Eto’o and Deco will miss the Real match through suspension after collecting cautions. Valencia are only two points from safety and have a six-pointer against rivals Real Zaragoza, one point below, on Wednesday. Earlier a brace from Turkish international Nihat helped Villarreal sink Getafe and they are now in the driving seat to finish second. Elsewhere, Sevilla closed to within three points of the final Champions League spot with a crucial 2-0 home win over Valladolid. Atletico Madrid’s win over Recreativo on Saturday put pressure on Sevilla and they responded with a first half brace from Brazilian striker Renato sealing the points. Brazilian striker Fabiano has led the goalscoring charts for most of the season but Real Mallorca’s Spanish international Daniel Guiza moved one ahead in the race for the Pichichi scoring a brace against Athletic Bilbao to take his tally to 24. Racing are also in the Champions League frame after coming from two goals down to defeat Real Murcia 3-2 on Sunday and move two points behind Atletico in fourth. Murcia’s defeat means they join Levante in being relegated from the top-flight. Results: Sevilla 2 (Renato 10, 40) Valladolid 0; Almeria 1 (Pulido 47) Real Betis 1 (Odonkor 43); Villarreal 2 (Nihat 36, 43) Getafe 0; Levante 1 (Juanma 77) Espanyol 1 (Luis Garcia 90-pen); Athletic Bilbao 1 (Llorente 7) Real Mallorca 2 (Guiza 2, 70); Racing Santander 3 (De Coz 35-og, Lopez 46, Munitis 57) Real Murcia 2 (Aquino 12, Alonso 27); Barcelona 6 (Messi 5-pen, Xavi 8, Henry 14, 58, Bojan 72, 79) Valencia 0; Osasuna 1 (Punal 83-pen) Real Madrid 2 (Robben 87, Higuain 89).