Barcelona could be crowned Liga champions without even kicking a ball on Saturday if second-place Real Madrid fails to beat Villarreal on the road.
The Champions League finalists, who routed Athletic Bilbao 4-1 to lift the King’s Cup on Wednesday, have an eight-point lead with three games left. They also hold the head-to-head advantage over their rivals.
“We are taking it one step at a time and on Sunday we’ll be looking for the second title,” Barca defender Gerard Pique said after their cup final victory. A disillusioned Real have second place assured, but have been battered 6-2 and 3-0 in their last two outings. If they win, Pep Guardiola’s team only need a point from their trip to Real Mallorca on Sunday to win it all.
The Catalans may have had to put their celebrations on hold last Sunday when Villarreal snagged a 3-3 draw at the Nou Camp, but they still managed to set a new record for the highest points tally in a 20-team top flight, moving on to 86 points.
They are now just four goals short of the record 107 scored in a season by John Toshack’s Real Madrid in the 1989-90 campaign.