Translated material
Six years of waiting
Barcelona won the Spanish championship
Catalonia rejoices. The blue garnet fans have been waiting for this day, the day when Barcelona will become champions again, for six years. All these years, Barça could not win a single trophy at all - neither in Spain nor in Europe. And here is the long-awaited victory in the national championship. Seventeenth in the history of the club.“We continue to make history,” rejoiced Barcelona president Juan Laporta, who took charge of the club just two years ago. -- Barça showed brilliant football this year and achieved excellent results, which for me, as the president of the club, is undoubtedly a reason for pride. But the most important thing is that we have a very young team. She can win many more titles and trophies.”
Barcelona became the champion two rounds before the end of the championship. But the Catalans have long been prepared for this moment. Even Real Madrid had already come to terms with defeat in the fight for the title - all the talk that the Royal Club still retained hopes of catching up with Barca was nothing more than bravado. The Madrid team can still theoretically equal the Catalans on points, but due to head-to-head matches, Barcelona will still be higher in the standings.
Barça clinched the championship by drawing with Levante - 1:1. It is probably fair that the golden goal, which brought Barcelona the highest medal, was scored by Samuel Eto'o. The Cameroonian, the leading scorer in the competition, now has 24 goals scored. And almost every one of them brought points to Barcelona. “I’m very happy,” said Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard after the match, for whom the championship was the first great success in his coaching career. - We were a strong team this season. When I talk about the team, I'm not just talking about the players. I mean the president of the club, the fans, and everyone who helped win the championship. As long as we are together, we are invincible."
By this time, it was already known that Real had drawn with Sevilla - 2:2 and had actually ended the season in which they had failed to win a single trophy. “We have no choice but to congratulate Barcelona on their championship,” Real Madrid head coach Wanderlei told Luschemburg. - They deserved the title, but we fought for the championship, which at the time of my arrival was 13 points away from us. We closed the gap, then they pulled away again, but we fought until the last rounds. I am grateful to my players for this.” These congratulations to the sworn enemy of Real Madrid were easy for Luchemburg. He did not lose the title, but he will certainly be entrusted with returning the Royal Club to first place.
It is not yet known where Luchemburgu will start. It is only clear that Real are in for big changes. It has long been said that Luis Figo should leave the Royal Club. As the season progressed, rumors appeared that David Beckham did not like Madrid and he was also not averse to changing the team. Other stars may leave, and the rest will need a good shake-up to regain lost motivation. Even Zinedine Zidane is tired of this season. “Now I only think about its end, about vacation and about returning with great motivation,” said the Real Madrid leader. - The last two years have been difficult, but this also makes football interesting, because it is impossible to always win. I will definitely leave football in 2007, although I do not rule out that this could happen earlier. I will make a decision when I consider it necessary. But I want to win something serious before that.”
Of course, Real will also buy new players. Club President Florentino Perez is true to his principle of acquiring at least one new star per year. And the first purchase has already been made. It has already been announced that the Royal Club will be joined by the young Brazilian talent Robson de Souza, better known as Robinho. The young Santos forward will be paid between 15 and 18 million euros, and his salary will be 2 million euros per year. But there is little doubt that Real Madrid’s spending on the summer transfer market will be limited to this amount.
Results of the matches of the 36th round. “Sevilla” – “Real” – 2:2, “Levante” – “Barcelona” – 1:1. The leaders are: Barcelona - 82 points, Real Madrid - 76, Sevilla - 59, Villarreal - 58 (35 games), Espanyol - 56 (35).