Atletico Madrid ground out a 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp to claim their first Primera Division title since 1996.
It
was not always pretty, but Diego Godin's headed equaliser early in the
second half was enough to deny Barca in a tense title decider.
The
hosts had taken the lead with a stunning strike from Alexis Sanchez but
it was a rare sight of goal for the hosts, with Lionel Messi cutting a
frustrated figure and Atletico's defence standing firm.
Gerardo
Martino sprung a surprise in his team selection with Barca's most
decorated player Xavi Hernandez left out as Cesc Fabregas and Sergio
Busquets started alongside Andres Iniesta, while Pedro Rodriguez was
preferred to record signing Neymar.
Atletico started with former Barca man David Villa alongside Diego Costa, with Raul Garcia among the substitutes.
Tension
was high from the start with Atleti making a bright start and Gerard
Pique earning an early yellow card for fouling Koke.
Barca were
having most of the ball but could not find a way to test Thibaut
Courtois while Atletico's breaks looked dangerous as Jose Pinto was
hesitant in goal.
Atletico's hopes suffered a huge blow in the
14th minute when Costa pulled up with a recurrence of his hamstring
injury, leaving the pitch in tears with his chances of playing in the
Champions League final in the balance.
It got even worse moments
after when Arda Turan followed him off after taking a blow from
Fabregas, and the wind was in Barca sails as Pedro headed a good chance
over.
Alexis' wonder-strike put them ahead in the 34th minute,
with the Chilean rifling a shot into the roof of the net from an acute
angle before Courtois had a chance to move.
Atletico were in
danger of losing their cool in the moments after as Godin and Tiago
collected yellow cards in quick succession but they hung on until
half-time without suffering further damage.
Diego Simeone worked
some kind of magic in the dressing room and his side started the second
half on fire, with Villa striking the post 45 seconds after the restart
before Godin headed them level in the 48th minute, rising highest to
power a header into the bottom corner of the goal.
Injuries then
began to strike at Barca, with Busquets forced off. Alex Song was the
man to replace him as Xavi remained on his seat, and a second
substitution soon after saw Neymar replace the ineffective Pedro.
Messi hammered the ball into the roof of the net in the 64th minute but from a clearly offside position.
The
Argentinian had another chance from a free-kick soon after following a
wild swipe from Filipe Luis but blasted it into the wall.
Xavi
came on to replace Fabregas with 12 minutes to go as Barca went into
all-out attack mode, and Courtois palmed over a powerful Alexis strike
as the game moved into the final 10 minutes.
Pinto did not seem to
know much about his 83rd minute save from an Atletico corner but Barca
survived, and the breathless action continued as Pique was demanding a
penalty in vain after being eased over by Godin.
The tension
levels rose but Barca could not find a way past the dogged Atletico
defence, who huffed and puffed but never lost their heads as they played
the ball out of trouble to frustrate their hosts.
Pinto raced up for a stoppage-time corner, but Atletico pumped the ball clear and seconds later their celebrations could begin.
Barcelona's fans stuck around to applaud, a fitting end to a pulsating title race.