Barcelona clinch Spanish La Liga

Real Madrid will finish runner-up despite Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a hat trick in a 4-1 win at Espanyol.

Barcelona’s attack and had four shots in the first 20 minutes before clipping the crossbar with a free kick.

Barcelona kept up the pressure until Messi and Pedro finally broke down Atletico’s defense, when the Argentina forward used his left boot to fire the ball inside the post for his 41st league goal of the season and his 54th in as many games in all competitions.

“Again, Messi was the best and marked the difference,” said Atletico captain Gabi Fernandez.

Ronaldo’s goals – he leads the league with 45 – were once again not enough for Madrid to better Messi’s Barcelona, and Carlo Ancelotti’s team will end the season without a major title.

Moments after Ronaldo completed his hat trick at Espanyol, Barcelona fans began flocking to the center of the Catalan capital to celebrate.

Chants of “Messi! Messi!” were heard from the heart of the party at Barcelona’s famous “Las Ramblas.”

Messi now has seven league titles with Barcelona. Ronaldo, meanwhile, has won one for Madrid in six seasons.

“Congratulations to Barcelona,” said Ancelotti. “Real Madrid always plays to win, but we weren’t able to do so this season.”

Elsewhere on Sunday, fourth-place Valencia’s Nicolas Otamendi salvaged a 1-1 draw at home with Celta Vigo, while Sevilla remained one point behind after fighting back 2-1 over relegation-threatened Almeria.

Eibar also stayed in the drop zone after drawing 1-1 at Getafe, while already relegated Cordoba fell 2-1 to Rayo Vallecano.

Granada rolled to a 3-0 victory at David Moyes’ Real Sociedad for a third win in as many games under coach Jose Sandoval, while Deportivo La Coruna beat Levante 2-0 as both winners boosted their chances of staying up.

Athletic Bilbao erased Jonathas’ two goals to rally for a 3-2 win at Elche and move into seventh place, while Malaga fell into eighth after losing 2-1 at sixth-place Villarreal.