Soccer
Epic comeback in Pamplona gives Spanish title to Real Madrid
By DPA
May 5, 2008, 0:47 GMT

Madrid - Real Madrid clinched their 31st Spanish league title late Sunday with an epic 2-1 comeback win at lowly Osasuna.

Real won with late, late goals from Arjen Robben and Gonzalo Higuain - despite playing the entire second half down a man.

That fighting spirit gave the whites an unlikely win in rainy Pamplona under the most adverse circumstances.

The title win sparked celebrations in the Spanish capital, particularly in the downtown Plaza de Cibeles, where Real's triumphs are traditionally celebrated.

The celebrations will go on throughout Sunday night, with Bernd Schuster's team to be received by delighted fans around 2 am at Barajas airport.

'It was an incredible game,' Higuain told Canal Plus. 'We fought really hard and never lost faith in our chances of winning.'

This is the first time that the whites have won back-to-back titles since 1990.

Higuain said: 'I am really pleased to have won two league titles, after being in Spain for just 18 months.'

Veteran midfielder Guti, who missed the game with a sprained knee, said, 'The lads did really well to turn the game around, with things going against them and on a difficult ground. ... This is a really good period for Real Madrid, with young players coming through and taking responsibility.'

The first half had been a tense, scrappy affair of few openings.

The second half, however, lacked nothing: a red card, a goal disallowed, a penalty - and a late comeback that will go down in Real Madrid history.

Real defender Fabio Cannavaro was sent off one minute into the second half for an ugly foul on Jaroslav Plasil. The Osasuna fans, however, were soon jeering the referee for disallowing a goal from Carlos Vela for handball.

Real needed to win because Villarreal had beaten Getafe 2-0 earlier Sunday.

Wesley Sneijder came close to breaking the deadlock in the 56th minute, but his left-foot chip came back off the crossbar.

The last 10 minutes were full of raw passion and breathtaking drama.

In the 82nd minute, Osasuna were given a penalty after Gabriel Heinze had handled in the area, and Francisco Punal made no mistake from the spot.

Real came manfully forward, looking for a miracle - and surprisingly achieved one.

In the 87th minute - with Real down to nine as Heinze was off injured - Robben headed in a free-kick from Higuain.

Just two minutes later, with Osasuna begging for the final whistle, Sergio Ramos set up Higuain down the right, and the Argentine supersub won the game with a fierce, near-post drive.

The epic win gives Real 78 points from 35 games, 10 points more than second-placed Villarreal.

Earlier Sunday, Manuel Pellegrini's team beat Getafe thanks to two clever goals just before half-time from little Nihat Kahveci, one of the outstanding players of the Spanish season.

The easy win leaves Villarreal four points above Barcelona, who ended their goal drought with a 6-0 thrashing of crisis club Valencia.

Barca kicked off against Valencia in an atmosphere of pessimism after failing to score for a month. But the goal drought was quickly broken with early goals from Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez.

The much-criticized Thierry Henry then took centre stage with two more goals before half-time, with the pathetic Valencia defence shipping water.

On the hour, 17-year-old Bojan Krkic came off the bench and added to Valencia's misery with two more goals, completing the rout.

'It was good to give the fans something to shout about at last,' the teenage idol told radio station Cadena SER.

In fourth place, six points behind Barca, are Atletico Madrid, who thrashed Recreativo Huelva 3-0 Saturday.

Two points behind Atletico, in fifth place, are Racing Santander, who came back from 2-0 down to beat Murcia 3-2. The latest defeat condemns Murcia to relegation along with bottom team Levante, who drew 1-1 with Espanyol.

There are six candidates for the third relegation place.

Joint third from bottom on 40 points are Huelva and Osasuna.

Zaragoza are now on 41 points following Saturday's last-gasp 1-0 defeat of Deportivo Coruna.

Then come three teams on 42 points: Valencia, Valladolid and Getafe, all of whom lost Sunday.

Valladolid went down 2-0 against sixth-placed Sevilla, for whom Renato scored twice.