Guardiola concedes La Liga title to Real Madrid

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has congratulated Real Madrid on the La Liga title after the Catalan side’s 2-1 defeat at Camp Nou.

Goals from Sami Khedira and Cristiano Ronaldo gave Jose Mourinho’s men a commanding seven-point lead at the top of the table, and Guardiola has been quick to offer praise to Real.

“First of all, congratulations to Madrid, for the win and the league title they have confirmed today,” Guardiola said after the match.

“I wouldn’t change my players for anything. These players have been in this situation and have shown they can get up.”

Guardiola felt that his side dealt well with the attacking prowess of Madrid, but conceded that they did not do enough to win the game.

“We controlled Madrid’s counterattacks pretty well, they didn’t create a lot of chances, but at the end they did a bit more,” he said.

He also stressed that Barcelona will now turn to the Champions League and the match with Chelsea on Tuesday.

“I feel bad for the fans. But the players have been giving everything, for four years already now, so I hope they understand. Now the players should relax a bit, and then focus on Chelsea. We should see if we can get in the right spirit,” Guardiola said.

Meanwhile, Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets says the team will ‘give everything until the end’ in La Liga.

Madrid now need just six points from their four remaining league fixtures to be crowned champions at the end of the season, but Busquets insists the champions will continue to fight to retain their title.

“We’ll give everything until the end in the Liga. But now to Chelsea – we can’t give up. The fans were great, supporting the team the whole game, until the end,” he said.

Madrid’s victory means Barcelona have lost back-to-back fixtures for the first time since 2009, following their 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final last week.