Barcelona won LaLiga for the 28th time as Lamine Yamal scored a stunning goal and laid on an assist for Fermin Lopez in a 2-0 derby victory over 10-man Espanyol.

Two years and one day after Barca secured their most recent league title at the RCDE Stadium, they repeated the trick, having been made to wait for their coronation by Real Madrid's late fightback against Mallorca on Wednesday.

Seventeen-year-old sensation Yamal was the hero, scoring a trademark curler in the 53rd minute then turning provider for Lopez's late clincher.

Yamal's goal came at the ideal time for Barca, after they were forced to survive a wave of Espanyol pressure in the first half, as the hosts looked to secure survival with three points.

Urko Gonzalez broke in behind in the fourth minute but rolled his shot narrowly wide of the bottom-left corner, while Wojciech Szczesny denied Javi Puado from another one-on-one chance.

Hansi Flick's visitors – who had already won the Supercopa de Espana and the Copa del Rey this season – were fortunate to reach half-time level, but they went ahead early in the second half.

After taking in Dani Olmo's routine pass, Yamal darted inside from the right wing, almost reaching the D before he whipped an unstoppable effort beyond Joan Garcia.

Yamal was also involved in the incident that all but ended Espanyol's hopes of a comeback with 10 minutes to play. Defender Leandro Cabrera looked over his shoulder at Yamal before throwing his arm back and striking him in the torso and was sent off after a VAR review. 

Espanyol continued to press for a leveller despite their numerical disadvantage, but five minutes into stoppage time, Yamal showed great awareness to hold onto the ball for a moment before feeding Lopez, who rifled into the bottom-left corner.

Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao clinched a top-five finish with a 2-0 victory at Getafe, with sixth-placed Real Betis – who drew 2-2 at Rayo Vallecano earlier on Thursday – now unable to catch them.

Gorka Guruzeta and Dani Vivian netted in the final 15 minutes for Athletic, who will play in the Champions League for the first time since 2014-15 next season.

Data debrief: Yamal delivers title glory

Barcelona did not have things all their own way for long periods at the RCDE Stadium, where they had never lost in LaLiga.

Flick's men only had one shot on target in the first half of Thursday's game. Only against Real Sociedad (in November) and Leganes (in April) have they had fewer shots on target in a first half in LaLiga this term (zero in both).

But early in the second half, Yamal – one of the heroes of their Clasico win over Madrid last weekend – stepped up to provide yet another moment of genius.

Yamal has scored three goals from outside the box in all competitions since the start of March. No player from LaLiga has more, with Rayo Vallecano's Pedro Diaz also on three.