Title triumph marks beginning of new era, say Barcelona

AS they celebrate their first trophy after six years in the wilderness, Barcelona believe their victory in the Spanish title race will mark the beginning of a new era of success for the Catalan club.

“This is a young and united team that could make history,” said leading striker Samuel Eto’o, who scored the crucial goal in the 1-1 draw at Levante which secured the club their first league title since 1999.

“For me it has been a dream come true because I scored and the goal helped us win the title. Our aim now has got to be to stay at the top and I think we’ve got the ability to do that.”

Barca had to battle hard to fight their way back from a goal down against their relegation-threatened opponents and earn the point that assured them of the title. They are now confident more trophies will follow.

“It doesn’t stop here,” said Barca president Joan Laporta. “We have to gain more successes to bring more prestige to this club. This title took a huge effort from everybody but we were the best team and we are going to continue making history.”

Barca also received congratulations from Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, whose side’s 2-2 draw in an earlier match at Sevilla effectively ended their title hopes.

“The league is won by the most consistent side over the season and that is exactly what Barca have been,” he said.

Villarreal moved up to third in La Liga with a 1-0 win at home to Albacete that sent their opponents down into the second division.

In Italy, Juventus moved one win away from the Serie A title after they beat Parma 2-0 yesterday while rivals and defending champions AC Milan were held 2-2 at Lecce.

The results mean Juventus are five points clear with two games remaining and Fabio Capello’s side could claim their 28th title with a victory at Livorno next Sunday.

First-half headers from Alessandro Del Piero and Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic gave Juventus a comfortable win at the Delle Alpi stadium.

Milan led through a Kakha Kaladze header but Ivory Coast forward Cedric Konan pulled Lecce level seconds after the break.

Andriy Shevchenko restored Milan’s advantage in the 53rd minute and Lecce were reduced to 10 men 20 minutes later when Konan was sent off for a dreadful foul on Brazilian Kaka. But eight minutes from the end, Serb Mirko Vucinic made it 2-2.

In the battle for fourth place and a spot in the Champions League qualifiers, Udinese and Sampdoria drew 1-1, leaving them level on 60 points.

Inter Milan are assured of third place, which brings a place in the final qualifying round of the Champions League, after a 13th minute Christian Vieri goal gave them a 1-0 win over Livorno.

The goalless draw in a drab Rome derby - during which fans chanted abuse at their own teams - actually did neither side from the capital any favours as they seek mathematical safety from the relegation zone.

The bottom three teams are relegated from Serie A this season and with two games remaining, over half of the clubs are within six points of 18th-placed Fiorentina who have 38 points. Roma, on 41 points, and Lazio, on 42, still need to secure their top-flight status for next season after none of the bottom four teams lost.

Bayern Munich staged a fitting finale to their 33-year run at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday, beating Nuremberg 6-3 in their last match at the famous sporting venue.

Rapid Vienna and Club Bruges won the Austrian and Belgian titles yesterday.