Spanish Primera Liga:Real Madrid ended their four-year trophy drought when they won the league title for the 30th time after a dramatic 3-1 comeback victory over Real Mallorca at the Bernabeu last night.
The nine-times European champions topped the final standings by virtue of a better head-to-head record against arch-rivals Barcelona, whose 5-1 victory at already relegated Gimnastic Tarragona was to no avail.
For over an hour the title looked to have slipped from Real Madrid's grasp as they trailed to a 17th-minute strike from Mallorca's Fernando Varela, while Barcelona overpowered Gimnastic.
But Real produced their by now customary late show to storm back to a 3-1 win and snatch the title from Barcelona's grasp in a match that marked the final appearances of David Beckham and Roberto Carlos.
Jose Antonio Reyes equalised a minute after coming on for Beckham and Mahamadou Diarra put Real ahead and back on top of the standings when his close-range header bounced off Mallorca's Angelos Basinas and over the line 10 minutes from time.
Reyes made sure of the victory four minutes later with a great strike from the edge of the area to spark wild celebrations among the 76,000 fans at the Bernabeu.
It was a fitting farewell for Beckham who is set to join the LA Galaxy, despite being substituted for the real hero on the night, Reyes. However, he joined the raucous celebrations at the Bernabeu after the final whistle.
Defending champions Barcelona did what they had to do against relegated Gimnastic and were 3-0 up at the break with goals from Carles Puyol, Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho.
Meanwhile, Real were struggling and there was a growing edge of anxiety at the Bernabeu, which included Tom Cruise and Rafael Nadal in their ranks.
Fabio Capello's team had an early scare when Juan Fernando Arango slammed a shot on to the Real woodwork in the opening minute and they fell behind when Fernando Varela broke the offside trap to score on 17 minutes.
And injury was added to insult when leading scorer Ruud van Nistelrooy hobbled off after 33 minutes with a hamstring injury.
After Beckham had curled an effort on to the Mallorca crossbar, Varela had a chance to put the visitors firmly in the driving seat, but he poked his effort wide and Real pounced on their lifeline.
Beckham, struggling with an ankle injury picked up on England duty, made way for Reyes who side-footed home with his first touch from Gonzalo Higuain's pull back on 68 minutes. Diarra's shot evaded goalkeeper Migeul Angel Moya and defender Angelos Basinas before trickling over the line before Reyes curled in a delightful third from the edge of the area.
Sevilla started the final day with an outside chance of scooping the silverware, but they lost at home to Villarreal 1-0. At the other end of the table, Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo were relegated with Gimnastic.