June 19, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 03, 1428

MADRID, June 18: Real Madrid ended their four-year trophy drought when they won the league title for the 30th time after a dramatic 3-1 comeback victory over Real Mallorca at the Bernabeu on Sunday.

Substitute Jose Reyes Antonio was Real’s hero, equalising a minute after coming on in the second half and putting the icing on the cake with a spectacular third seven minutes from time.

The nine-time European champions topped the final standings by virtue of a better head-to-head record against arch-rivals Barcelona, whose 5-1 victory at already relegated Gimnastic Tarragona was to no avail.

For over an hour the title looked to have slipped from Real’s grasp as they trailed to a 17th-minute strike from Mallorca’s Fernando Varela, while Barca overpowered Gimnastic.

But Real produced their customary late show, including a headed goal by Mahamadou Diarra, to storm back to victory and snatch the title from Barcelona’s grasp.

The match marked the final appearances of David Beckham and Roberto Carlos, who signed off with a championship medal in front of 76,000 adoring fans at the Bernabeu.

Real topped the final standings level on 76 points with Barcelona and five ahead of UEFA Cup winners Sevilla who lost 1-0 at home to Villarreal.

Valencia claimed the other berth in the Champions League third qualifying round, while Villarreal and Real Zaragoza clinched UEFA Cup spots.

Atletico Madrid had to settle for a place in the Intertoto Cup despite their 2-1 win at Osasuna, their first victory in Pamplona for 13 years.

Mallorca gave Real an almighty scare with barely a minute on the clock when striker Juan Arango hit the base of the post with a low shot after stealing a march on defender Sergio Ramos.

Real paid the price for their shaky start soon after when Varela put Mallorca in front with a low shot past Iker Casillas after Arango slid a perfect pass behind the static back four.

The Mallorca goal meant Barca were top of the table and the Catalans consolidated their advantage when they went a goal up after Carles Puyol slid the ball home at the near post after Lionel Messi had squared a neat pass into his path.

Real suffered another setback when leading scorer Ruud van Nistelrooy was forced off in the 32nd minute after appearing to pull a hamstring as he ran towards goal.

Barcelona, meanwhile, went 3-0 up by the break with goals from Messi and Ronaldinho.

Real struggled to respond at the Bernabeu and the restless crowd called on Fabio Capello to introduce playmaker Guti to give the side more control in midfield.

Capello did just that at the start of the second half but his side continued to live dangerously with a succession of last-ditch tackles stopping Mallorca adding to their lead.

The game was turned on its head shortly after Reyes replaced Beckham, who limped off midway through the second half.

The former Arsenal player equalised a minute later when he fired in from close range after some dazzling footwork by Robinho and Gonzalo Higuain on the right side of the area.

The Bernabeu burst into life after Reyes’s goal and Real were back on top of the table 12 minutes later when Diarra, called back from international duty with Mali, sent a header bouncing off Mallorca’s Angelos Basinas and across the line.

Reyes made sure of victory four minutes later with a great strike from the edge of the area to spark wild celebrations.

Sunday’s results:

Athletic Bilbao 2 Levante 0

Celta Vigo 2 Getafe 1

Gimnastic 1 Barcelona 5

Osasuna 1 Atletico Madrid 2

Racing Santander 0 Real Betis 2

Espanyol 1 Deportivo Coruna 3

Real Madrid 3 Real Mallorca 1

Recreativo Huelva 1 Real Zaragoza 1

Sevilla 0 Villarreal 1

Valencia 3 Real Sociedad 3

—Reuters

Final standings

(Tabulated under played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):

Real Madrid 38 23 7 8 66 40 76

Barcelona 38 22 10 6 78 33 76

Sevilla 38 21 8 9 64 35 71

Valencia 38 20 6 12 57 42 66

Villarreal 38 18 8 12 48 44 62

Real Zaragoza 38 16 12 10 55 43 60

Atletico Madrid 38 17 9 12 46 39 60

Recreativo Huelva 38 15 9 14 54 52 54

Getafe 38 14 10 14 39 33 52

Racing Santander 38 12 14 12 42 48 50

Espanyol 38 12 13 13 46 53 49

Real Mallorca 38 14 7 17 41 47 49

Deportivo Coruna 38 12 11 15 32 45 47

Osasuna 38 13 7 18 51 49 46

Levante 38 10 12 16 37 53 42

Real Betis 38 8 16 14 36 49 40

Athletic Bilbao 38 10 10 18 44 62 40

Celta Vigo 38 10 9 19 40 59 39

Real Sociedad 38 8 11 19 32 47 35

Gimnastic 38 7 7 24 34 69 28