Madrid clinch late victory but fall short of Atletico

Villarreal had started the game the brightest of the two sides and earned themselves a deserved lead through Yeremy after just twenty minutes. The winger received Gerard Moreno's chipped pass into the box, controlling brilliantly to round Militao before calmly finishing over Courtois. This goal had come in a crazy few minutes which had also seen league leaders Atletico also go behind just two minutes earliers, in their case against relegation battlers Valladolid.

Madrid had chances in the first half, including a penalty shout against Parejo for handball that was waved a way by the referee and VAR, as well as a close range strike from Luka Modric which got the bench on their feet cheering what they thought was a goal. Overall, however Villarreal were good value for their lead and were proving difficult to break down, Zidane's men struggling to generate any real danger.

The tables seemed to be turned by the second half, as Madrid came racing out the blocks with definitive intent. This effort was rewarded with a fine Karim Benzema header after 55 minutes, who turned home Casemiro's curled cross to equalise. However, a VAR review showed that the Frenchman was marginally offside, and the goal was chalked off.

It initially looked like it was going to be one of those days for Madrid, as they were becoming increasingly frustrated in front of goal whilst at the same time leaders Atletico had turned it around at Valladolid. Benzema wasted a clear opportunity following a mistake from Rulli, pulling his shot wide after the GK was dispossessed by Rodrygo, as well as missing the target from a Marcelo cross.

The Frenchman did eventually get his customary goal, which drew him level as top goal-scorer with Villarreal's Gerard Moreno on 23 goals for the season. Rodrygo was involved once more, flying down the right before finding Benzema on the edge of the box. While he may have been wayward on previous occasions, the striker made no mistake this time around, firing it into the top corner with just three minutes remaining of regular time.

The home side turned it around in dramatic fashion two minutes into added time, with Benzema turning provider for Luka Modric to finish brilliantly on the half volley. Celebrations seemed noticeably subdued, however, as Madrid knew the victory would mean very little should Atletico hold on to their victory in Valladolid. And hold on they did, with Simeone winning Atletico's first La Liga title since 2014.