Barcelona sealed their 24th La Liga title as Luis Suarez took his tally for the season to 59 goals with a hat-trick in a 3-0 win at Granada to hold off Real Madrid’s late-season surge.
Real registered their 12th consecutive La Liga win, 2-0 at Deportivo La Coruna thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s double, but finished a point behind their bitter rivals.
Suarez’s treble also sees him become the first player in seven years other than Ronaldo and Barca teammate Lionel Messi to win the Pichichi award for La Liga’s top goalscorer with 40.
“We are deserving champions,” said Suarez.
“We had to suffer, the pressure was put on us in the final few games, but this team is built to win titles.”
Barca had seemed set to cruise to the title until a run of three consecutive defeats for the first time in 13 years last month.
However, they bounced back like champions as, inspired by Suarez’s 14 goals, they scored 24 times without reply in the last five games to win the title.
“We played very well over the course of the season. We were top for many weeks and the most consistent team wins the title,” said Barca boss Luis Enrique.
“We have won six of the last eight titles, which shows the club has a winning mentality. We must value each title win because each one is very difficult.”
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