Real Madrid are officially champions of La Liga for the 34th time after defeating Villarreal 2-1.
Technically, Real Madrid would have been champions anyway, since Osasuna scored in the 95th minute to upset rivals Barcelona 2-1. But Real have never been about focusing on another team. They’ve been on a mission since La Liga’s return to put matters into their own hands, and with their win over Villarreal, they are not only winners of 10 in 10 games but also champions.
It’s been quite the journey to get to this point for Los Blancos. Here were the top five performances from their 2-1 win over Villarreal on Thursday night.
GK Thibaut Courtois
Although Thibaut Courtois couldn’t get a clean sheet, he is a primary reason for Real Madrid coming out winners in this important game against one of La Liga’s top five clubs. Courtois made a few big stops in this match, but none of them were bigger than his double-save near the end to protect Real’s precarious lead over the talented Yellow Submarine.
The big Belgian could do nothing about Vicente Iborra’s looping, unmarked header from an early cross, but he managed to prevent Villarreal from stealing a point in the end. Courtois has come up huge like this so many times this season, and that’s why he leads all players in the league in clean sheets, goals allowed per 90 minutes, and save percentage, per FBRef.com.