Title glory for Madrid and Mourinho (From Smallholder)

Title glory for Madrid and Mourinho

11:03pm Wednesday 2nd May 2012 in National Sport © Press Association 2013

Real Madrid clinched their first Primera Division title since 2008 after beating Athletic Bilbao 3-0.

Barcelona's 4-1 win over Malaga earlier meant Madrid had to win at San Mames in Wednesday's late game to seal a record 32nd La Liga crown.

They did so comfortably despite missing an early penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo with Gonzalo Higuain and Mesut Ozil giving them a two-goal lead before Ronaldo atoned for his missed spot-kick to add a third.

Earlier, Barca ensured Madrid would have to do it themselves if they wanted to clinch the title as Pep Guardiola's men claimed a convincing 4-1 victory over Malaga in which Lionel Messi enjoyed another record-breaking match.

The Argentina international netted a hat-trick to set the record for most goals scored in a European season.

Messi scored twice from the penalty spot before wrapping up his treble with a low drive to take his tally to 68 goals for the campaign, passing the previous mark of 67 set by Gerd Muller in 1972/73.

Malaga's defeat means Valencia were able to take a step closer to securing third spot as they thrashed Osasuna 4-0 thanks to four goals in the last 13 minutes from Aritz Aduriz (77 & 87) and Jonas Oliveira (82 & 88).

The good news for Malaga is that they are still three points ahead of Levante, who were beaten 1-0 at relegation-battling Real Zaragoza, for whom Edu Oriol scored the only goal in the 11th minute.

Third-bottom Zaragoza are now only three points behind Rayo Vallecano and safety. Rayo slumped to their fifth successive loss and eighth in nine games after losing 1-0 at Real Mallorca, Gonzalo Castro's 62nd-minute goal deciding the match.

In the Seville derby, Benat Etxebarria fired home an injury-time free-kick to hand Real Betis a dramatic victory and deal a potentially fatal blow to Sevilla's hopes of claiming a UEFA Europa League qualifying place.