Barcelona Clinches Victory Over Athletic Club, Concluding La Liga Campaign

BILBAO: Robert Lewandowski’s early goals propelled La Liga champions Barcelona to a 3-0 triumph against Athletic Club at San Mamés on Sunday, marking the end of their season.

Barcelona wrapped up their La Liga campaign with a total of 88 points, narrowly surpassing Real Madrid by four points. Atletico Madrid secured the third position with 76 points, while Athletic Bilbao and Villarreal claimed the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, thus ensuring their participation in the upcoming UEFA Champions League season.

In a strategic move, Barcelona rested several key players, including first-choice goalkeepers Wojciech Szczesny and Marc-Andre ter Stegen, providing Inaki Pena, the third-string goalkeeper, with a starting opportunity after a hiatus of over four months.

Lewandowski swiftly made his presence felt, inaugurating the scoring for Barcelona in the 14th minute, capitalizing on an assist from Fermin Lopez. This goal marked the team’s 100th goal of the season under Hansi Flick.

The prolific Polish striker further extended the lead with another goal just three minutes later. Nevertheless, he fell short of matching Kylian Mbappe’s impressive tally of 31 goals for the La Liga season, concluding with 27 goals.

In the closing moments of the match, Dani Olmo converted a penalty in the fourth minute of added time, securing the victory for Barcelona.

Lewandowski, the standout performer of the match, expressed immense satisfaction with the season, highlighting the La Liga champions’ achievement of a domestic treble, including the Spanish Super Cup and Copa del Rey titles.

Lewandowski’s Remarks

“We approached the final game of the season with a clear strategy to win, and we executed it effectively. Our performance in the first half was particularly strong, maintaining control throughout. It’s been a near-perfect season. Now, we relish this moment,” Lewandowski stated.