There was Zinedine Zidane again, being thrown into the air by his Real Madrid players in another title celebration. With the Frenchman back in charge, Madrid is back to collecting major trophies. Madrid clinched its 34th Spanish league title " and first since 2017 " after extending its perfect run following the pandemic break with a 2-1 win over Villarreal on Thursday, opening a seven-point gap to second-place Barcelona with one round to go. Barcelona lost to 10-man Osasuna at the Camp Nou Stadium.

Karim Benzema scored twice to give Madrid its 10th consecutive league victory. It was the only team with a perfect record after the coronavirus-enforced break, having trailed Barcelona by two points before the league was halted. "This is one of the best days in my life professionally," said Zidane, who also won the Champions League and World Cup as a player. "It's another league title, after the confinement and everything else that happened. I wish we could celebrate with the fans, but I'm sure they are very happy at home seeing their team win the league again." Zidane quit as Madrid coach in 2018 after leading the team to three straight Champions League titles, then returned less than a year later with the team floundering. In his first full season back in charge, Madrid wrested the league title away from Barcelona for the first time in three years.