Stars in the stands as well
But in soccer, things can turn around full circle in a flash and there was loads of potential for drama in this climatic weekend.
Real Madrid Vs Real Mallorca
Real Madrid players obviously felt nervous in the opening exchanges, as they were pressurized by the home fans, all expecting nothing less than a win so that they can open their champagnes and have a taste of success after 90 mins.
Even the likes of Tom Cruise and his wife, Katie Holmes, were seen in the stands beside Victoria Beckham, preparing to celebrate. Rafael Nadal looked more anxious, probably cause he knew nothing can be taken for granted in soccer.
Indeed Real Mallorca was clearly out to spoil the party. After just one minute on the clock, Juan Arango nearly silenced the whole stadium when he clipped the post with a low shot. Real Madrid did not wake up from that incident and they paid the price when Mallorca's Fernando Varela coolly put the ball past Iker Casilla in the 17th minute after being set free from a perfect through pass by Arango.
More drama was to come when the league’s leading scorer Ruud van Nistelrooy had to come off in the 32nd minute after pulling a hamstring as he was running towards the goal.
Nothing was going right for Real Madrid fans, suddenly their hands on the champagne cork shifted to their lips for some nail biting action.
Over at Nou Estadi…
Barcelona Vs Gimnastic
Barcelona on the other hand, were rampant against Gimnastic, going 3 nil up as the half time whistle blew. Their Captain, Carlos Puyol lead by example by sliding the ball home from a well timed pass by Lionel Messi. Messi himself scored soon afterwards and then Ronaldinho coming back from suspension, scored a beautifully curled free kick that gave the keeper no chance. Advantage Barcelona.
Back to the Bernabeu…
Guti was brought on by Fabio Capello to try and instill more creativity to the front line and get the minimum two goals they needed to win the title. But few chances were created after the substitution and in fact, Real Mallorca looked more likely to score instead.Then came the changing moment of the match, or more appropriately, season as Reyes came on for David Beckham in the 66th minute. Beckham had experienced another recurrence of his injury suffered in the last few games. He remained standing in the bench as he looked to his teammates to deliver his first and last title in Madrid colors before leaving to play in USA.
Ironically it was the man who replaced him whom gave hope to his wish. Just one minute after the substitution, Reyes reacted quickly to a Robinho cross to guide the ball past Mallorca’s keeper and prompted the home crowd to spur the players on and get the next crucial goal.
12 minutes later, the whole stadium erupted when Diarra headed the ball towards goal. The keeper managed to get a hand to the ball but it bounced off a defender’s back who was guarding the post into the net. It was the sort of luck champions needed. Reyes completed his heroic turnaround when he curled a ball first time with unerring accuracy into the corner of the net in the 83rd minute.
Goals of La Liga Winners 2007 - Real Madrid vs. Real Mallorc
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Casillas was in tears by that time and he ran the whole pitch to celebrate the goal with his teammates. Tom Cruise kissed his wife on the cheek and Nadal finally managed a smile. They knew it was over. The final whistle blew and the players and staff who had already been waiting in the benches long before that, ran onto the pitch to celebrate Real Madrid’s 30th Spanish league title.
Meanwhile, Barcelona had added two goals scored by Messi and Gianluca Zambrotta with a consolation goal scored by Gimnastic’s Tobias Grahn in the 83rd minute. The impressive scoreline of 5-1 in the end did not matter at all.
Barcelona only have themselves to blame for their inconsistency. Real Madrid should be praised for their spirited and determined performances in the second half of the season.
Van Nistelrooy celebrates a well deserved title
Other important results
Villarreal managed to clinch a UEFA Cup spot, eliminating any hopes for Sevilla of winning the league title with a 1-0 win. Villarreal and Sevilla finished fifth and third respectively. Sevilla still has a double cup success to play for, with a match against Getafe in the Copa Del Rey final.Real Zaragoza pipped Atletic Madrid to the last UEFA Cup spot with a 1-1 draw at Recreativo Huelva. This means Madrid will missed out on qualifying for the seventh straight season despite beating Osasuna 2-1.
Athletic Bilbao avoided its first relegation from Spain's top soccer league with a 2-0 win over Levante. Real Betis also ensured of its La Liga status with a 2-0 win at Racing Santander.
Things were more grim for Real Sociedad as they were relegated to the second division for the first time in 40 years despite getting a credible 3-3 draw at Valencia, while Celta Vigo was also relegated even though they won 2-1 against Getafe.
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