How Barcelona won its 1st Spanish league title since Messi’s traumatic exit
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Barcelona’s risky bet to mortgage the club’s future paid off Sunday — in the short term at least — when a team led by newcomer Robert Lewandowski clinched its first Spanish league title in four years. Barcelona won its 27th league title, second to Real Madrid’s 35, with four rounds remaining after a 4-2 win at Espanyol with a pair of goals by Lewandowski. TER STEGEN After a couple of years where the German appeared to have lost his best form, Marc-Andre ter Stegen was back to playing like the goalkeeper that helped Barcelona win its last Champions League title back in 2015. The club was barely able to meet the Spanish league’s strict financial control rules last season in time to register all its players, and some more long nights loom for Barcelona’s bookkeepers.