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**Barcelona Celebrate LaLiga Title Despite Shock Defeat to Villarreal**

**BARCELONA, Spain** – Barcelona’s LaLiga title celebrations were dampened on Sunday after a surprising 3-2 defeat at home to Villarreal, marking their first league loss since December. The defeat came just days after securing the championship with a 2-0 victory over Espanyol, guaranteeing them an insurmountable lead with two matches to spare.

The match, held at Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium, was intended to be a celebratory occasion, with the team planning to present the LaLiga trophy to their fans. However, Villarreal had other plans.

Ayoze Perez put Villarreal ahead early with a fourth-minute goal, capitalizing on a swift counter-attack. Barcelona rallied back with Lamine Yamal leveling the score in the 38th minute and Fermin Lopez giving them the lead just before halftime.

Despite Lopez’s goal and the team’s overall satisfaction with securing the title, Villarreal’s resilience shone through. Santi Comesana equalized early in the second half, and Tajon Buchanan secured the victory for Villarreal with a late goal in the 80th minute, assisted by Gerard Moreno.

“I think Villarreal played a good game… but what matters is that we are champions,” Fermin Lopez told DAZN after the match. “I’m happy to have scored a goal, although it didn’t help us to grab another win that we really wanted. However, the important thing is that we’ve won the league and that’s it, we deserve it and let’s keep the celebration going.”

The win for Villarreal strengthens their hold on a Champions League spot for next season.

With one matchday remaining, Barcelona sits atop the LaLiga table with 85 points, four points clear of Real Madrid. Atletico Madrid sits in third place with 73 points. Athletic Bilbao (70 points) and Villarreal (67 points) complete the top five, securing their places in next season’s Champions League alongside the top three.

The Barcelona team, led by Hansi Flick will be hoping to end their LaLiga campaign on a higher note in the final game before regrouping for summer friendlies in the USA.

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