Real reach 31st milestone

Madrid, May 5 No David Beckham, no Fabio Capello, no Roberto Carlos. No matter. Real Madrid won their record 31st Spanish league title on Sunday, thanks to the late heroics of newer additions who led the Spanish champions to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory at Osasuna. Substitute Gonzalo Higuain volleyed in the winner in the 89th minute, two minutes after $56 million signing Arjen Robben headed in the equaliser with 10-men Madrid trailing through Francisco Punal’s 83rd-minute penalty.

Cannavarro was sent off barely 20 seconds into the second half after picking up a second yellow card. Madrid desperately needed the win after Villarreal beat Getafe 2-0 earlier in the day.

Coach Bernd Schuster, who replaced now-England manager Capello after the Italian ended a four-year major trophy drought last season, was given an extra $182 million to retain the league title and bring a more attractive blend of soccer to the Santiago Bernabeu.

Though the soccer hasn’t followed those plans, the league title did. “It looked like an American sports film in which you have to fight and suffer and we had a nice ending. We are champions,” coach Bernd Schuster said.

The defending champions now have 78 points — 10 more than second-place Villarreal — and can’t be caught with three games remaining, making Wednesday’s match against bitter rival FC Barcelona meaningless. An estimated 10,000 Madrid supporters had gathered at the traditional celebration point at Plaza Cibeles in the Spanish capital in anticipation of the Spanish champions’ return.

Thierry Henry and Bojan Krkic scored two goals each as third-ranked FC Barcelona snapped a five-game winless streak with a 6-0 rout of Valencia.

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Real reach 31st milestone

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