|
Barcelona's all-conquering women's team won the Primera Division title for the third season in a row after thrashing Real Madrid 5-0 on Sunday. Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas scored twice in two minutes just before half-time and an own goal from Babett Peter and efforts from Patri Guijarro and Jenni Hermoso completed the scoring after the break. A crowd of 6,000 was present at the Estadi Johan Cruyff -- for the first of three Clasico fixtures in a month -- as Barca made it 24 wins from 24 league games this season to move 19 points clear of second-placed Real Sociedad with just six games remaining. Those 24 victories have yielded an incredible 136 goals, while they have conceded just six. In all competitions, their winning streak now stands at 38 games. - ESPN+ viewers' guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more
- Don't have ESPN? Get instant access It's the seventh time the Catalan side have won the league -- more than any other team -- as they continue to establish their dominance on the women's game in Spain. With six games to play, Jonatan Giraldez's side will now set their sights on an unbeaten league campaign. They came close last year under the previous manager Lluis Cortes, but a defeat to Atletico Madrid meant they ended the season with 33 wins and a solitary defeat. Barca won the Treble last year, including a first-ever Champions League trophy, but could go one better this time around. They have already won the Spanish Supercopa, the only trophy that eluded them last term, and remain in the hunt for the Champions League and the Copa de la Reina. They travel to Real Sociedad in the quarterfinal of the Copa next week and then face rivals Madrid in the quarterfinals of the Champions League later this month. The second leg of that tie will be played at a sold-out Camp Nou. It will be just the second time Barca have played a competitive game there and president Joan Laporta said a potential semifinal would also be played in the 99,000-seater stadium. Despite a disappointing start to the season, Madrid are emerging as Barca's biggest rival. They have risen to fifth in the table and, prior to Sunday's meeting, they had only lost twice in 14 games since appointing Alberto Toril as coach in November, both times to Barca. However, a third defeat to Barca this season shows they still have a lot of work to do ahead of the Champions League tie between the two clubs this month.
|
