Real Madrid closed a campaign that crowned with its 36th title in the history of the Spanish league with a 0-0 draw on Saturday against Betis, on a day marked by the retirement of German midfielder Toni Kroos.
The meringues conclude the season with 95 points after going 32 days without defeat. They only suffered a setback against Atlético de Madrid (3-1) on matchday 6.
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German international Kroos announced a few days ago that this would be his last season. He received a tribute upon entering the field with a hallway of his teammates and rivals, while a banner was displayed in the stands with the phrase: “Thank you, legend,” with his photo and the number 22, in reference to the titles he achieved during the decade that it was merengue.
At 85 minutes Kroos came off as a substitute, at which point the fans at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium stood up to applaud him while his teammates went to hug him before leaving the field.
In the duel, despite Merengue’s insistence on rival territory in the first half, the whites had a moment of lack of control in which Johnny Cardoso scored a goal for the Betis, after a bad rejection of a Thibaut Courtois cross; However, the target did not raise the score after the assessment of an advanced position in the video replay.
One more test for Kroos:
Kroos and Real Madrid still have the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium on June 1st. If he wins, he will reach six titles (five with Real Madrid and one with Bayern Munich) to be the competition’s top winner along with his teammates Luka Modric, Dani Carvajal, and Nacho Fernández and would equal the current record left by Paco Gento with six European Cups in the 50s and 60s with the meringues.
The 34-year-old German veteran retires from professional football with 34 titles after the 12 he won in his first stage with Bayern Munich. After leaving the game he hugged his three children in the technical area and then went to say goodbye to the press and team personnel on the sidelines as the game continued towards the end.
