MADRID — Barcelona collected its 22nd Spanish league trophy Saturday after forward Lionel Messi helped it dominate the competition from start to finish with another outlandish scoring campaign. Barcelona wrapped up a title that had been a foregone conclusion for months when titleholder Real Madrid drew 1-1 at Espanyol Saturday, giving it an insurmountable seven-point lead. Even so, its fourth domestic title in five seasons comes when the first cracks in its five-year run at the top of the sport are starting to show. Barcelona was recently thrashed by a combined 7-0 score by Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinals, its first resounding defeat since former coach Pep Guardiola started its current winning era. The stinging elimination from Bayern and a pair of defeats to Madrid this year has cast a degree of doubt over the Catalan club's future just when it should be celebrating a stellar league campaign. While coach Tito Vilanova insists there will be on overhaul of his squad this summer, it's clear Barcelona has been dethroned as Europe's premier side, leading defender Gerard Pique to say that “decisions will have to be made” this offseason. That said, there was a lot to cheer about in Camp Nou. Madrid holds a record 32 league titles, but Barcelona has established itself as Spain's most successful team over the past decade with six league titles in nine seasons. The last team other than Barcelona or Madrid to win the title was Valencia in 2004. And with the season still not over, Vilanova's team can match Madrid's record haul of 100 points from last season if it wins all four of its remaining games. Messi was again the key component of Barcelona's relentless title march. The Argentina international added three more milestones that will be tough to break to his already impressive resume. Messi became the first player to be chosen world player of the year four times; he scored 91 goals in 2012 to surpass Gerd Mueller's 40-year-old mark; and he has found the net in a record 21 straight league appearances to shatter the old mark that had stood at 10. He has scored 46 goals so far even though he missed three games with a nagging right hamstring injury. He scored a record 50 league goals last season and could still better it. Besides Messi's goals, Barcelona was led by the same core of players that has guided it to the top of world football over the past five seasons. Veteran playmaker Xavi Hernandez provided the ball control, Andres Iniesta the incisive dribbling, and — despite falling in and out of favor— Cesc Fabregas chipped in with 10 goals. It also got a boost by the return of Eric Abidal from a liver transplant last season. However, Barcelona is turning its attentions to strengthening the squad for next season. “There'll only be a few changes,” Barcelona vice president Josep Bartomeu told Barca TV. “It's a very competitive team and it's very difficult to substitute the pieces.” “(Spain goalkeeper) Victor Valdes has told us he doesn't want to continue, so we will try to find a replacement this summer. Also a central defender and a forward.” “People talk of a cyclical change but we have returned to win the main title, the one that rewards consistency,” Barca sports director Andoni Zubizarreta said. “If we look at our squad, 80 percent of the players that would interest us are already part of our team. As always, we'll analyze what needs to be improved but the base is solid and we've already got it.” The champions will have a victory parade through the streets of Barcelona Monday. — AP
