Treble-chasing Barcelona are La Liga champions for the fifth time in seven years after a clinical Lionel Messi strike secured a 1-0 victory away to Atletico Madrid that wrapped up the title with a game to spare yesterday.

Cristiano Ronaldo hit a hat-trick for Real Madrid in their 4-1 victory away to Espanyol but Barca cannot be caught now with a four-point lead.

Messi combined with Pedro Rodriguez and then slotted home from the centre of the penalty area with 65 minutes gone.

It had been a cagey game but the talent of the Argentine shone through again to break the deadlock and help Luis Enrique to his first piece of silverware at the helm of Barcelona.

The Catalan side have dominated the list of La Liga titles in recent years and remain on course to repeat their treble of 2009.

They are through to the Champions League final on June 6 to face Juventus and will play A. Bilbao in the King’s Cup final on May 30.

Barcelona made a brisk start to the season with new coach Enrique at the helm in place of Gerardo Martino and a host of additions to the squad, including midfielder Ivan Rakitic and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.

They dropped two points in the opening eight games, scoring 22 goals and conceding none, to open a three-point lead over second-placed Sevilla at the top.

Bravo set a record for minutes unbeaten at the start of a La Liga season but finally let goals through when Barca lost the ‘Clasico’ at Real 3-1 at the end of October.

It was a disappointing debut for Luis Suarez, whose ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup expired the previous day, and there was more pain to come when Barca lost 1-0 at home to Celta Vigo in their next match.

They slipped to fourth, with Real leading ahead of Valencia and Atletico Madrid. A draw at Getafe left Barca four points adrift of their arch rivals at the turn of the year and January was a depressing low as rumours of a rift between Messi and coach Enrique swirled after they lost 1-0 at Real Sociedad in their 2015 opener.

But Real Madrid went down 2-1 at Valencia the same day, ending a Spanish-record winning run of 22 matches, and the tide soon turned.

Messi started to move up the gears and, with Neymar and Suarez also coming into form, Barca began to look unstoppable, particularly with the defence playing its part.

The only blips after the defeat at Sociedad were a 1-0 reverse at Malaga and a 2-2 draw away to Sevilla, with 18 wins, 67 goals scored and 11 conceded in 20 league outings.

Barca climbed back on top after Real’s defeat at Athletic Bilbao at the start of March and Suarez scored a superb goal to clinch a 2-1 ‘Clasico’ win when Real Madrid visited the following week.

It was fitting that Barcelona wrapped up a fifth La Liga crown in seven years at Atletico, who pipped them to the title on the final day last term with a 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp.

Results, standings
Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona - 0-1
Cordoba vs Rayo Vallecano - 1-2
Deportivo vs Levante - 2-0
Elche vs Athletic Bilbao - 2-3
Espanyol vs Real Madrid - 1-4
Getafe vs Eibar - 1-1
Real Sociedad vs Granada - 0-3
Sevilla vs Almeria - 2-1
Valencia vs Celta Vigo - 1-1
Villarreal vs Malaga - 2-1