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| They had to wait until after Barcelona played Girona, but Madrid's big home win over Cadiz helped confirm them as LaLiga champions on Saturday. Burak Akbulut/Anadolu via Getty Images |
What a Saturday across European soccer! Real Madrid took down Cádiz and were able to celebrate clinching LaLiga when Girona rallied to beat Barcelona later in the day. That's one title race done and dusted! Meanwhile, in England, Arsenal and Man City both won to keep the pressure on at the top of the Premier League. Stuttgart thumped Bayern Munich to get a chance at overtaking them in the German Bundesliga, and Ipswich Town secured automatic promotion to the English top flight after 22 years on the outside looking in.
Let's take a look back at what happened all across the continent this weekend.
SATURDAY REVIEW
The lead: Madrid crowned champions with Cádiz win... eventually
In the 84th minute, with Real Madrid leading Cádiz 2-0, the first chorus of "campeones" ("champions") rang out around the Santiago Bernabeu. Madrid weren't actually champions, not yet --but this win made their LaLiga title all but a certainty, and the crowd were enjoying the moment.
In the end, it finished 3-0, with Joselu scoring in added time after Brahim Díaz and Jude Bellingham had put Madrid in front. The result left Madrid on 87 points from 34 games and from there, attention turned elsewhere to watch Barcelona play Girona. They knew that if Barca dropped points, the league title was Madrid's. If they didn't, that confirmation would have to wait another week.
Hours before kickoff, earlier than usual and in greater numbers, Madrid fans had started to gather in the streets around the Bernabeu. Later, some of them would head to Cibeles -- the fountain where Madrid celebrate their trophies -- in excited anticipation of what might happen at Montilivi. The players wouldn't be joining them, aware of the need to focus on Wednesday's Champions League semifinal second leg against Bayern Munich.
With that game in mind, Coach Carlo Ancelotti had made 10 changes to his team, with only defender Nacho Fernandez keeping his place from the first leg. Still, Madrid's squad contains such quality that their "B-team" was able to overcome Cádiz, who were in desperate need of points in order to avoid relegation.
After an evenly matched first half, Diaz made the difference, curling the opener into the net from the edge of the box. He then provided Bellingham with assist for the second, spotting the substitute's near-post run. Bellingham and Vinícius Júnior are the stars, but Diaz has been one of the low-key success stories of Madrid's season.
The third goal came from an unexpected source, with Nacho charging upfield to find Joselu unmarked at the far post. Moments later, after the final whistle, there were some brief celebrations on the pitch before the players headed down the tunnel to watch the Barca game together.
"I don't mind whether it's today, Sunday or next Sunday," Ancelotti said, as journalists kept him up to date on the score during his post-match news conference. "We deserve to win this league. When we win it doesn't change much."
As it turned out, they didn't have long to wait thanks to Girona's victory. Now, Real Madrid are 2023-24 LaLiga champions with an unbridgeable 14-point gap. It's an accurate reflection of just how much better they've been than all the rest this season. -- Alex Kirkland
Saturday talking points around the leagues
Hoeness' Stuttgart close gap to Bayern in race for second place
Sandwiched between two Champions League semifinals against Real Madrid, Bayern Munich travelled for a Southern Derby in Stuttgart that pitted the second- and third-placed teams against one another in the Bundesliga.
Interestingly, Stuttgart proved the better side over 90 minutes, creating the majority of chances and recording a higher percentage of possession. After Stuttgart took an early lead via defender Leonidas Stergiou's first-ever Bundesliga goal, Bayern managed to equalize before half-time when Harry Kane converted a contentious penalty.
After the break, Bayern were never really able to get going. Manager Thomas Tuchel gestured wildly from the sidelines, urging his team to prevent Stuttgart from progressing down the pitch and while things remained 1-1 until the final stages, the hosts soon took charge as Silas found Jeong Woo-Yeong with a beautiful cross toward the back post. Neuer was well positioned having anticipated the ball movement, but agonizingly for Bayern fans, he couldn't prevent the ball from crossing the goal line. In added time, Silas put the game to bed when he converted an assist from the lively Serhou Guirassy to make the final score 3-1.
The man of the moment in Stuttgart was once again their manager, Sebastian Hoeness, who prepared his team with aplomb. The 41-year-old has recently been linked with the Bavarians as the super-club continue their search for a new head coach to lead them into next season. Munich-born Hoeness, who coached at Bayern earlier in his career, has earned the attention of his former employer thanks to Stuttgart's impressive performances throughout the season. Plus he just so happens to be the nephew of Uli Hoeness who, despite only being a member of the supervisory board, continues to be an influential figure behind the scenes.
His nephew, however, has stressed that he is keen to stay on with his current team despite Stuttgart's financial constraints and thanks to Saturday's win, they could even overtake Bayern in the Bundesliga standings. VfB currently trail by only two points with a couple of games remaining.
Meanwhile, Bayern cannot afford to pay too much attention to the league table at the moment, as they face Real Madrid on the road this week. This loss might not only have dented their confidence ahead of their trip, but also impacted their squad. Both Raphaël Guerreiro and Eric Dier -- key players in the first-leg 2-2 draw -- had to be taken off with injuries. -- Constantin Eckner
Girona batter Barça to secure Champions League football
As if losing the Spanish title to Madrid in one day was not enough, Barcelona are now in serious danger of ending the season as only the second-best side in Catalonia after a crushing 4-2 defeat to Girona, who confirmed their place in next season's Champions League for the first time in the club's 94-year history with the win.
A brace from substitute Portu helped Girona come back from behind at a bouncing Montilivi as they climbed one point clear of Barça in second place. Whoever finishes runners-up will book their place in next season's Spanish Super Cup, along with champions Madrid and Copa del Rey finalists Athletic Club and Mallorca -- and the cash boost that comes with it. It is advantage Girona with four games to play.
Barça would have moved five clear of Girona in second with a win and they looked on track for three points when Andreas Christensen opened the scoring in the third minute with a fine chest and volley combination. Artem Dovbyk, the league's leading scorer, responded less than a minute later, heading home his 20th goal of the campaign. Robert Lewandowski's penalty after Lamine was felled restored Barça's lead, but they imploded after the break.
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