And so what we have expected for some time – you didn’t need to study the SBOTOP La Liga betting odds to know which way this was going – has become a reality.
For the first time in four years, Barcelona are Spanish champions.
Their first La Liga title since 2019 and their 27th in total was secured with a 42 victory at Espanyol on Sunday night.
The omens always looked good ahead of kick-off.
After all, Espanyol had gone 25 derbies (now 26) in a row without a win against Barcelona in La Liga, the worst winless run against an opponent in their top-flight history, and the worst winless streak by any team in any regional derby in the competition.
In addition, Robert Lewandowski had netted 19 goals in 29 league games and was seeking to become the joint third quickest to reach 20 goals in the competition in the 21st century, after Julio Baptista in 2004 (30 matches), Radamel Falcao in 2012 (26) and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2010 (24).
Both those impressive tallies were further enhanced on a night when Lewandowski also moved four ahead of reigning world player of the year Karim Benzema in the golden boot race.
Eleven minutes into the contest and Lewandowski tapped into an empty net from an Alex Balde cross.
That advantage was doubled within nine minutes as Balde scored the first goal of his professional career, volleying home from close range a Pedri cross.
Five minutes before the break and Raphinha’s inviting delivery wasn’t cut out and there was the prolific Pole to bundle in the third.
Seven minutes after restart Jules Kounde ghosted in to head home Frenkie de Jong’s ball.
Two late goals by the hosts could not dampen the party spirit as Barca capped off a campaign which began with manager Xavi Hernandez reportedly worried about the club’s financial situation.
It appeared the only way Barca could break back into the big time was by juggling the financial balls and that is exactly what they did.
By signing Lewandowski, Raphinha, Kounde and young Pablo Torre for more than £140 million, as well as bringing in Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessié on free transfers, the Catalans can now argue the layout has been justified.
The sale of a further 25% of their content production company, Barça Studios, for an estimated €100 million, helped free up finances too as they strived to deal with a situation borne out of the pandemic and massive salaries.
Now they are back at the top table in Spain, they need to ensure they avoid a third successive Champions League group exit.
First though, they can enjoy this moment.
Elsewhere over the weekend, Sunday threw up La Liga highlights with Valencia grabbing a late winner at Celta Vigo to give themselves a big boost in their survival bid.
Alberto Mari’s 88th minute winner saw them climb into 14th place, albeit just three points above the drop zone.
Real Valladolid remain in trouble after a 3-0 home reverse to Sevilla whose own turnaround since the appointment of Jose Luis Mendiliba has been stark.
Not only are they potentially one game away from a place in this season’s Europa League Final, they have also climbed into the top half of the Spanish top flight and could amazingly, still reach a European berth via the league.
Girona currently hold that place, in seventh, after a fine fightback at Real Sociedad.
A Mikel Oyarzabal penalty and veteran playmaker David Silva, who signed a one year contract extension with the club earlier this week, put the Basque hosts into a commanding lead.
However, the Catalan visitors fought back to leave the game level with Yan Couto and Cristhian Stuani on target before the break.
Girona’s Oriol Romeu was sent off for a second booking in the final stages but there was to be no late winner.
The surprise of the weekend saw already relegated Elche defeat third placed Atletico Madrid.
Fidel Chaves broke the deadlock in the 41st minute, when Atletico goalkeeper Ivo Grbic badly flapped at a throw-in, leaving the winger with an open goal and he made no mistake to seal what is only the team’s fourth league win of the season.
Of course, the result does little to change the picture for either side, with Elche already down, and Atletico needing one more point to seal another top four spot but it was a rare bright moment for the bottom club and their first success against Atletico since 1985.
It also meant Atletico failed to leapfrog outgoing champions and newly crowned Copa del Rey winners Real Madrid into second spot.
The effective Marco Asensio netted their winner against basement battlers Getafe, who remain in the bottom three, with a deflected strike 20 minutes from time. For manager Carlo Ancelotti, who made eight changes, attention now turns to the midweek Champions League semi-final second leg at Manchester City.
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