Barcelona: Lionel Messi sealed Barcelona's 26th La Liga title win on Saturday by coming off the bench to score the goal in a 1-0 win over Levante in front of jubilant home fans at Nou Camp on Saturday. It was Barcelona's eighth league title victory in 11 years.
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In the 61st minute, Barcelona skipper Messi decided the fate of the game as he received a header from Arturo Vidal and subsequently placed the ball into the far bottom corner.
Messi had started on the bench along with Sergio Busquets as Ernesto Valverde as they were given rest before Wednesday's Champions League semi-final at home against Liverpool. However, with the game was failing to produce a result in their favour, despite the best efforts of Philippe Coutinho, coach Ernesto Valverde brought in Messi in the game. The Argentine needed just over a quarter of an hour to have the desired effect, lighting up the stadium with his 34th league goal of the season in 32 appearances. “Messi was always ready to come on and I always knew he was going to play but we also have a game on Wednesday. He has to stay active and he scores goals everywhere he goes and he has won us this title,” Valverde told reporters.
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“It is very difficult to win this title, without the number of teams we are competing with, especially with this margin.
Lionel Messi lifts the La Liga title at Nou Camp. “We have done it two years in a row and it’s fantastic to see the fans celebrate the title like this at home. Now we want to go and celebrate it.”Cries of “champions” rang out from the 91,000 supporters crammed into the Nou Camp but Barca’s players dropped their concentration and Jose Luis Morales should have levelled for the visitors but blasted over the bar.
