Madrid, Spain – Real Madrid made Barcelona wait until the weekend to celebrate another La Liga title as Madrid cruised to a 6-2 win at home over Malaga on Wednesday.
A Madrid loss or draw would have clinched the title for Barcelona, but six different players found the net for Jose Mourinho's men, who remain eight points clear of third-place Atletico Madrid.
Raul Albiol's first goal of the campaign three minutes into the match had Real in the lead, but his opener was canceled out by Malaga's Roque Santa Cruz in the 15th.
Sergio Sanchez doomed Malaga with a red card in the 21st, although Cristiano Ronaldo failed to convert the subsequent penalty kick.
But Ronaldo made it 2-1 in the 26th before he set up Mesut Ozil for Madrid's third goal of the contest.
Malaga showed some fight with a goal from Vitorino Antunes, but Karim Benzema restored the two-goal lead in first-half stoppage time.
The second half saw Real add to its lead with goals from Luka Modric and Angel Di Maria, while Malaga finished the contest with nine men after a red card to Martin Demichelis.
Atletico Madrid 3, Celta Vigo 1
Vigo, Spain - Atletico Madrid clinched a place in the top three on Wednesday by securing a 3-1 victory at relegation-battling Celta Vigo.
Diego Costa tallied the opener for Atletico shortly after halftime with a close-range header from Koke's flicked corner kick.
Juanfran made it 2-0 to the visitors in the 66th when his shot took a wicked deflection on its way past Celta goalkeeper Javi Varas.
Celta got a bit of a lift in the 84th when Augusto Fernandez found the net with a shot that should have been stopped by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, although Atletico wrapped up the win a few minutes later with a goal from Radamel Falcao.
The result leaves Celta in 19th and two points from safety with three matches to play.
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