Real Madrid’s win over Deportivo La Coruna did not prove enough to make them Champions as Barcelona sealed a third title in four seasons on Sunday, courtesy a hat-trick from Golden Boot winner Luiz Suarez. Madrid beat Deportivo 2-0 thanks to a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo, but Suarez’s hat-trick to crush Granada meant the honours went to Luis Enrique’s men.
The Pichichi award also went to the Uruguayan, who finished with 40 goals, above second-placed Ronaldo, who had 35 goals to his name.
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Los Blancos were 11 points behind Barcelona going into April, but a run of 12 straight victories saw them close in to within a point of the Catalan side following their bad spell of three straight defeats.
Real’s manager, Zinedine Zidane admitted disappointment all around the dressing room following the results of the last matchday of the season. “We're all disappointed, but with 38 matchdays played, we can't change anything now”, he said.
The former French international also hailed Barcelona’s performance, saying "Barcelona were ahead for a long time and we couldn't catch them, they deserved the title.”
Since the iconic French international was appointed as Madrid’s manager, he won 21 of his 26 games in charge. Zidane has managed to revive Real’s season, which looked to be heading to a trophyless finish but now they find them in the Champions League final, hoping to add a record 11th title to their tally.
This shows that the story could have been different if the sacking of his predecessor Rafa Benitez had come a little earlier in the season.
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The French coach was well satisfied with the way his team has performed, saying "As for us, chapeau. I am really proud of all of my players and the people who work with the team."He also added “We can have problems, but we never give up and we always fight until the end. That's the message."
Real Madrid play city rivals Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final on 28th May, in what is a repeat of the final two years ago, when Real scored in stoppage time to win the “La Decima”.
The squad will be given an off for a day or two to recover from missing out on the title and with the objective of "returning with the motivation to prepare well for the final."
