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Villarreal dampens Barcelona’s title celebrations. Mbappé scores again for Madrid

MADRID: Villarreal dampened Barcelona’s title celebrations by handing the Catalan club its first defeat of 2025 in the Spanish league on Sunday. Barcelona, which clinched its 28th league title midweek, presented the trophy to its fans in the team’s final home match of the season at Montjuic stadium. Players were announced one by one after the game, which Villarreal won 3-2, before lifting the trophy. Barcelona’s Spanish Super Cup and Copa del Rey trophies also were displayed at Montjuic, with players dancing around the silverware during the celebrations. “We can be proud of this team for winning these titles and for how it did it,” Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen said.

Napoli close in on Serie A title despite Parma stalemate

PARMA, Italy: Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after being held to a goalless draw at Parma while closest rivals Inter Milan drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres was fouled, only for the decision to be reversed for a foul committed by Giovanni Simeone earlier in the move. A feisty match at the Stadio Ennio Tardini ended with Conte and his Parma counterpart Cristian Chivu both being sent off following a blazing row between the two dugouts in the final moments. However a home win on the final day against Cagliari, who are safe thanks to a 3-0 win over second-from-bottom Venezia, will give Napoli a fourth league crown. “We’re close but we have more step to take in front of our own fans. We’ve been top for a large part of the season even with a lot of difficulties,” said Conte to DAZN. “It’s down to these boys who put their heart and soul into it.