Rafael Nadal congratulates Real Madrid for winning 35th La Liga title

Spanish ace Rafael Nadal congratulated Real Madrid for clinching its record-extending 35th La Liga title with a 4-0 win over Espanyol on Saturday. The 21-time Grand Slam champion, who is in Madrid to participate in the Mutua Madrid Open, performed the honourary kick-off of the clash at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

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Rodrygo's double put Los Blancos 2-0 up at the break before Marco Asensio added a third after 55 minutes, and La Liga top scorer Karim Benzema sealed the points in the 81st.

The win also made their Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti the first manager to capture titles in Europe's top five leagues — England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France. "We were very consistent throughout the season. We faltered in very few matches," coach Carlo Ancelotti said.

Captain Benzema lifted the trophy after coming off the bench late in the second half as Ancelotti rested several regular starters with Real Madrid hosting Manchester City in their Champions League semi-final second leg on Wednesday, trailing 4-3.

Meanwhile, taking to Instagram, Nadal expressed his gratitude to Real Madrid for inviting him to take the honourary kick-off and thanked fans at the stadium for the welcome. The Spanish ace's post was flooded with many comments, including La Liga's official account that posted an emoji of a crown in an indication of lauding the 'King' of Clay.

"Very grateful to @realmadrid for inviting me to take the honorary kick-off at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Quite an honor. Thanks to the Madrid fans for the welcome. Impressive atmosphere. Congratulations to the team for the league title," the Spaniard said.

After its win over Espanyol, Real Madrid is 17 points ahead of Sevilla, 18 points in front of Barcelona and 20 points ahead of Atlético. This is the Los Blancos' third Spanish league title in the last six seasons, one more than Barcelona and two more than Atlético in that period. Before that, Barcelona had won six titles in eight seasons, with Real Madrid one and Atlético another.

As for Nadal, after featuring in this year's Madrid Open, the 35-year-old will head to the Italian Open in Rome, where he is the defending champion, before reclaiming the trophy at Roland Garros and winning the 14th title.