Real Madrid on cusp of winning Spanish league. Barcelona must beat Girona to stop rival taking title

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Jude Bellingham has helped put Real Madrid on the brink of winning the Spanish league after scoring in a 3-0 home win over Cadiz.

Second-place Barcelona now must win at third-place Girona to prevent Madrid from clinching the title later Saturday.

It would be Madrid’s 36th domestic league crown.

Madrid is 14 points ahead of Barcelona with just four more games remaining after this round. A victory by Barcelona at Girona would most likely just delay the celebrations in Madrid. Girona can no longer win the league.

Brahim Díaz scored in the 51st minute at the Santiago Bernabeu when the forward rifled a shot from the edge of the box into the top corner.

Bellingham tapped in a second goal in the 68th, moments after going on as a substitute to put the result beyond doubt. His 18 goals are only second to the 19 scored by Girona’s Artem Dovbyk this season.

Joselu Mato added a third in injury time.

Carlo Ancelotti overhauled his lineup ahead of next Wednesday’s game against Bayern Munich, when Madrid will host the second leg of their Champions League semifinal after a 2-2 draw in Germany. Center back Nacho Fernández was the only starter from the first leg against Bayern to start against Cadiz.

Madrid still had Luka Modric and Eduardo Camavinga as starters against Cadiz, along with rare starts for Dani Ceballos and Arda Guller.

Bellingham went on in the 66th minute. Vinícius Júnior and Federico Valverde joined also in the final minutes. Toni Kroos and Ancelotti’s other first-choice players never left the dugout.

COURTOIS RETURNS

Thibaut Courtois was back in goal for his first appearance of the season since suffering two leg injuries. The 31-year-old Belgian tore the ACL in his left knee in August, two days before Madrid’s first game of the season. He then ruptured the meniscus in his right knee in March when he was preparing to come back.

Courtois had little work except for moments before Díaz’s opener when he snuffed out a breakaway by Cadiz striker Chris Ramos.

Ancelotti said Friday that Andriy Lunin, the backup who has excelled in Courtois’ place, will be back in goal for the second leg against Bayern.

Cadiz is struggling to escape the relegation zone and spent most of the match in its area scrambling to clear the ball. The team from southern Spain remained five points from safety.

Also, Real Sociedad beat Las Palmas 2-0 to strengthen its hold on sixth place and a Europa League spot.

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