New Delhi: Barcelona were unable to claim their third consecutive La Liga title this season and finished runners-up to Real Madrid, while Sevilla claimed the third place in the title race.
This was a must win game for Barcelona to entertain any hopes of regaining their La Liga title, and Barca came out all guns blazing against Gimnastic.
They opened the score in the 21st minute when captain Carlos Puyol fired in. Barca added the second through Lyonel Messi who put it past the hapless Gimnastic goalkeeper. It was the Magician's turn next, Ronaldinho with his trademark freekick seeing Barca take a 3-0 lead in the first half.
When Messi got his second of the night, Barca were cruising towards victory. And with just six minutes remaining, Gymnastic grabbed a lone goal. But by this time Barcelona were aware that the title was on its way to Madrid. And despite scoring a fifth through Gianluca Zambrotta, Rijkaard's side finished second as Madrid were ahead on head-to-head record.
Sevilla had an outside chance at securing the title, only if they beat Villareal and both Madrid and Barca lost their matches. The first half was a story of missed chances for Sevilla.
As Fabiano squandered two opportunities to take the lead, in the second half Villareal upped the pressure on Sevilla. Defender Fabrico Fuentes scored the only goal of the game to give Villareal a 1-0 win over Sevilla who finished third in the league standings.
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