Lewandowski added the third before Jules Kounde’s header made it 4-0.

Espanyol did reduce the deficit through Javier Puado and Joselu but remain in trouble near the bottom of the table.

Barcelona have 85 points, 14 more than nearest rivals Real Madrid, with 12 points left to play for.

It is their first La Liga title since club legend Lionel Messi left in August 2021 and first since Xavi was appointed manager in November 2021.

Meanwhile, Espanyol are in danger of a second relegation in four seasons from La Liga after a ninth league defeat in 11 games.

They are four points from safety with four matches left.

Xavi delivers in first full season

Barcelona’s players will have to wait to get their hands on the trophy but they celebrated after the full-time whistle before making a hasty retreat to the dressing room after some Espanyol fans dashed on to the pitch.

Barca trailed Real Madrid by three points after losing 3-1 away to them on 16 October, while they made a disappointing exit from the Champions League after losing three of their six group games.

But Xavi, who won eight La Liga titles during a distinguished 17-year career playing in Barca’s first team, has delivered in his first full season in charge.

It was a particularly emotional night for captain Sergio Busquets, who has confirmed he will leave Barcelona at the end of the season after 18 years at the club.

This is the 34-year-old’s ninth league title with Barca but the future looks promising for the side, with Balde and Kounde scoring their first La Liga goals in Barcelona colours.

Barcelona will move out of their Nou Camp home next season while the stadium is redeveloped.

But fans will get a chance to celebrate the club’s first major trophy since 2020-21 during their last two home games – against Real Sociedad on Saturday and Mallorca on 28 May.

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Mbappe’s brace steered the visitors to victory over holders Bayern Munich in a topsy-turvy Champions League quarter-final first leg match at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

The France forward fired in his eighth goal of the competition in the 68th minute on a snowy evening in the Bavarian capital.

This was after Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in the 37th minute and Thomas Muller on the hour mark had cancelled out a two-goal PSG lead.

It was Bayern Munich’s first Champions League loss in more than two years and the first ever for coach Hansi Flick.

He had been unbeaten in his previous 16 matches in Europe’s premier club competition.

The Germans will be wondering how they failed to earn at least a point with 31 goal attempts to PSG’s six, 15 corner-kicks to one and a string of golden opportunities.

PSG had stunned the hosts in the third minute through Mbappe, whose powerful low drive squeezed through the legs of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

The French champions were brutally efficient and scored with their second chance of the game.

This was when Neymar picked out Marquinhos with a pinpoint cross and the PSG captain beat Neuer in the 28th minute.

Marquinos went off injured immediately after scoring. The defender’s absence dealt a blow to Mauricio Pochettino’s back line before replacement Ander Herrera could settle in.

Bayern Munich quickly took control of the game and came close through Muller and Choupo-Moting, who was replacing the injured Robert Lewandowski.

Choupo-Moting had headed onto the crossbar in the second minute but did better with another header, and Muller brought the hosts level, nodding in a Joshua Kimmich free-kick.

The 22-year-old Mbappe then scored again, drilling in from a tight angle and with two defenders in front of him to put PSG back in front.

The 2019/2020 runners-up had to survive intense late pressure from Bayern Munich, with David Alaba and Muller going agonisingly close for the hosts.

But they hung on for victory ahead of next week’s return leg in Paris.

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This was after beating Lazio 2-1 at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday to secure a 6-2 aggregate victory.

Leading 4-1 from the first leg in Rome, Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring for Bayern Munich from the penalty kick spot in the 33rd minute.

It was his 39th goal of the season in all competitions.

The German champions took their foot off the gas before substitute Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, having replaced Lewandowski, added the second goal in the 73rd minute.

Marco Parolo headed a late consolation for Lazio.

Bayern Munich joined fellow German side Borussia Dortmund in the last eight.

Lazio’s exit means no Italian team will compete in the Champions League quarter-finals, with Juventus and Atalanta having also exited at the last-16 stage.

Alexander Nuebel replaced the ill Manuel Neuer in goal for Bayern Munich. But, with Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi surprisingly leaving the club’s top goalscorer Ciro Immobile out, the stand-in goalkeeper was rarely tested.

Although Lazio were facing a near-impossible task, Bayern Munich still named a strong starting side.
No side in European Cup history has progressed from a knockout tie after losing the first leg by three or more goals at home.

A clumsy challenge from Vedat Muriqi on Leon Goretzka gifted Bayern Munich the penalty kick which Lewandowski converted, his fifth Champions League goal of the season.

The rest of the match was then a cruise for the Bundesliga leaders.

Lewandowski went within inches of his 40th of the season in the second half before being withdrawn.
Choupo-Moting found the net two minutes after coming on, ensuring Bayern Munich made it 19 games unbeaten in the UEFA Champions League.

Parolo did give Lazio something to take back to Italy in the 82nd minute when he headed home from Andreas Pereira’s free kick.

But Bayern Munich never looked in any danger of making a surprise exit.

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Goals from Robert Lewandowski, Rodriguez and Kingsley Coman gave the hosts a commanding lead in the first half, before the Colombian added another two goals after the break and substitute Alphonso Davies scored his first for the German champions.

Bayern coach Niko Kovac was under pressure to deliver a convincing win after his side were knocked out of the Champions League in the last 16 by Liverpool last week, and his team responded with their 13th win in their last 14 league games.

The result saw Bayern move level with Borussia Dortmund on 60 points with eight games left, but the Bavarians top the table with a goal difference of +41 compared to Dortmund’s +34.

Polish striker Lewandowski’s neat finish opened the scoring after three minutes and Coman almost doubled their advantage when his powerful angled shot came back off the post.

Bayern pulled away with two goals in five minutes before the interval, Rodriguez racing onto Leon Goretzka’s lay-off to fire home before Coman cut inside and curled a shot into the corner of the net from the edge of the box.

Rodriguez piled on the misery for Mainz six minutes into the second half when he notched his second goal of the day, before the on-loan Real Madrid midfielder completed his treble with a dinked finish after a defensive mix-up.

Teenage substitute Davies completed the rout with his first Bundesliga goal 20 minutes from time, leaving the visitors in 13th place on 30 points.

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The hosts posed the greater threat but were either wasteful in front of goal or kept out by Bayern’s well-marshalled defence.

Sadio Mane missed a handful of first-half chances, most notably dragging a shot on the turn wide from inside the penalty area when unmarked.

Joel Matip also failed to convert Roberto Firmino’s cross from six yards.

Matip almost handed Bayern an away goal early on when his misdirected clearance rebounded to safety off Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson.

The German champions were excellent defensively in the second half, with Mane’s 85th-minute header at the near post the closest Liverpool came to scoring.

The second leg at the Allianz Arena will take place on 13 March.

In Champions League history, 31 sides have drawn the first leg of a knockout match at home 0-0 but only 10 have progressed.

Bayern have lost only two of their past 26 home Champions League games, but Liverpool know if they can score it will give them a huge advantage with away goals counting as double in the event of a draw.

If Liverpool are knocked out, they will rue their misfiring performance at Anfield.

Other than Mane’s late header, which was saved by Manuel Neuer, their only other shot on target came from Mohamed Salah in the first half when he failed to get enough on a brilliant ball over the top by Jordan Henderson to test the Bayern goalkeeper.

There were moments when Liverpool’s trademark one-touch attacking play was evident, but they also failed to make the most of promising opportunities.

Credit must also go to Bayern. They curbed their own attacking instincts to produce a resolute defensive performance, with full-backs Joshua Kimmich and David Alaba and centre-backs Mats Hummels and Niklas Sule impressive.

Despite their problems in attack, Liverpool must be pleased that their makeshift defence kept Bayern’s forwards quiet.

The Reds were without Virgil van Dijk, who was suspended, and the injured Dejan Lovren and Joe Gomez, meaning midfielder Fabinho had to fill in at centre-back.

There were shaky moments in possession, with Alisson and Andrew Robertson making sloppy touches early on, but Liverpool kept Bayern at arm’s length and prevented their opponents from having a shot on target.

Robert Lewandowski, the Champions League’s top scorer this season, had 34 touches – the fewest of any player in the starting line-ups – including only three in the Liverpool penalty area.

Midfielder Henderson was also excellent for Liverpool, consistently breaking up possession.

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Yerry Mina nodded in James Rodriguez’s cross shortly before half-time to put the South Americans ahead.

Falcao, who missed the finals four years ago with injury, then broke through in the second half before driving a low strike into the far corner and Juan Cuadrado capped off a fine team performance with an accomplished finish after racing on to James’ sublime ball behind the Poland defence.

It was a much improved performance by Colombia following the disappointing 2-1 defeat by Japan in their Group H opener and will give their fans hope they can at least match their run to the quarter-finals in 2014.

In contrast, this was another disappointing display by Poland, who lost to Senegal in their group opener.

Robert Lewandowski, making his World Cup debut in Russia, struggled with a lack of service throughout, the Bayern Munich striker going closest in the final few minutes when a long-range effort was tipped over by David Ospina.

Poland cannot now catch either Japan or Senegal, who have four points from two games. Colombia have three points and play Senegal on Thursday knowing victory could secure top spot.

It was four years ago to the day that Colombia thrashed Japan 4-1 to finish top of their group at the 2014 World Cup – a result that made many observers stand up and take notice of the South Americans as contenders.

They went on to reach the last eight in Brazil, with James scoring six goals to claim the Golden Boot, and in this victory both the team and the player were back to their best after some underwhelming performances over the course of the past four years.

Injury denied the Bayern Munich star a place in the first XI as Colombia lost their opening group game in Russia 2-1 to Japan but he returned to the starting line-up against Poland and provided the creativity his side so badly lacked in their previous outing.

He had the vision and technique to unlock a stubborn Poland defence just as a first half light on chances looked set to end goalless, clipping a pinpoint cross to Mina, who headed in from close range.

But his pass for Colombia’s third was even better, taking out three defenders to find Cuadrado with a whipped pass from the left wing, allowing the former Chelsea forward to charge unchallenged into the Poland box before finishing neatly.

With six goals and four assists in his previous seven appearances for Colombia, James has been involved in more goals than any other player across the past two World Cups. If Colombia are to go far at a finals again then the 26-year-old maintaining this kind of form will be key.

Russia 2018 is Poland’s first World Cup finals appearance in 12 years, but rather than grasping the opportunity and making their mark, they went out with a whimper.

Lewandowski scored an incredible 16 goals during qualifying – one more than Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo – but he was unable to carry that form into the tournament.

A change in formation may have contributed to that. Having frequently played 4-4-2 in qualifying Poland lined up 3-4-3 against Colombia and it was clearly a formation in which Lewandowski did not feel comfortable. He often found himself isolated and having to drop back into midfield to help build attacks.

At 29, this may have been the Bayern Munich striker’s last chance to make his mark at a World Cup.

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