Barça seals third straight Liga title

Soccer is a sport of cycles, and Barcelona on Wednesday night capped a six-year success story with a third consecutive Liga title after eking out a 1-1 tie at Levante in uncharacteristically cagey style.

The scene of Barça's latest triumph was significant: against the same opponent at the same stadium in 2005, the same scoreline handed Frank Rijkaard the first of his two Liga titles and brought to an end a run of six trophyless years at the Catalan club. On Wednesday, Pep Guardiola and his team celebrated its ninth trophy in three years, adding to Rijkaard's two Ligas, two Spanish Supercups and the Champions League - a staggering haul for a single club in a six-year spell.

As Barça celebrated its triumph on the Ciutat de Valencia turf, club captain Carles Puyol said the team was now focused on beating Manchester United in London in the Champions League final and lifting a 10th trophy under Guardiola. "After enjoying this, we can rest and prepare for the final at Wembley."

"Winning the league has been extremely tough and we are very pleased," Guardiola said. "We have been tremendous for three quarters of the season but in the last quarter we have struggled to score goals. If we have experienced a dip in form towards the end of the season, it is because of the inhuman schedule over the last two years. We have barely stopped."

Eight of Barça's players were among Spain's World Cup-winning squad in South Africa last summer and many traveled to the Confederations Cup the year before that.

With all platitudes known to man having already been applied to Guardiola's side, widely regarded as the best club team in history, the Barça coach struck a cautionary note in the wake of its Liga triumph: "Winning five leagues in seven years is something exceptional. These players are unique and the club's job will be to find fitting replacements as they keep getting older."

Also on Wednesday, Hércules joined Almería in being relegated to Segunda División after relinquishing a two-goal lead at home to Mallorca, which fought back to secure a 2-2 tie and an invaluable point in its own bid to remain in Primera. For the Alicante club, it was an ignominious end to a season that began with victory in Camp Nou against the reigning champion. Nine other teams are still in danger of being hauled into Segunda, a division that is notoriously difficult to get out of.

Zaragoza occupies the final relegation place with two rounds of fixtures left after a 2-1 defeat at Real Sociedad. "It is now out of our own hands which is the worst part of tonight's result," said Zaragoza coach Javier Aguirre. "All we can do is win the last six points and hope for the best." Deportivo's 2-1 win over Athletic moved the Galicians up to 16th but Miguel Ángel Lotina's side has the least enviable run-in of any of the relegation candidates, with Barça and Valencia to play.