FCBARCELONA.CAT

01.06.2009 12:34

League ends with clear winner

www.fcbarcelona.cat

The League came to an end this weekend. With Barça the champions since matchday 36, all that was left was to decide who qualified for Europe and who got relegated.

The final League table reflects Barça’s dominance of the 2008/09 season, when they have won the treble. Barça finished top on 87 points, nine more than Madrid in second place. The other Spanish teams in next year’s Champions League will be Seville (70 p.) and Atlético Madrid (67 p.). The two spots in the new UEFA Europa League go to Villarreal and Valencia, where they will be joined by Cup runners-up Bilbao.

The big losers in the relegation battle were Betis. A 1-1 draw at Ruiz de Lopera against Valladolid combined with results elsewhere have sent the Andalucian outfit down to the Second Division. They are accompanied by Recreativo and Numancia, relegated some days ago.

Top scorer and best keeper

Apart from their points total, Barça have also beaten their goals record in the League with 105. Samuel Eto'o has top scored with 30, two below League top scorer Forlán, followed by Messi (23) and Henry (19).

Plus Víctor Valdés has picked up his second Zamora Trophy for the lowest goals against record in the League. He’s let in 31 in 35 games (0.88), thus topping the list ahead of Palop (0.95), Aranzubia (1.22) and Kameni (1.27).

Valdés has most game time

The goalkeeper has also spent the most time of any Barça player on the pitch in the competition at 3303 minutes. The outfield players most used by Pep Guardiola have been Xavi Hernández (3106) and Eto'o (3077), having overtaken Dani Alves (3068) at Riazor.