beIN SPORTS

By Phil Kitromilides (@PhilKitro)

If Real Madrid's title hopes ended emotionally with last weekend's draw against Valencia, they were brought to a mathematical conclusion on Sunday night with Barcelona's win over Atletico Madrid. It has been a while since the title race was in Madrid's hands, with Carlo Ancelotti's men subjected to hoping that a stream of unlikely allies may do them a favor. Yet Barcelona simply have not put a foot wrong in the title run in, and it was perhaps fitting that it was Lionel Messi who scored the goal which crowned them champions.

His dazzling return to form has been the foundation of Barcelona's success and while there have been other notable factors on the road to La Liga glory, the Catalans simply could not have done it without the Argentine firing on all cylinders. 

The triumph for the Blaugrana is of course doubly sweet, for in claiming the title, they deny their eternal enemies the chance of winning any silverware this season. Or should we say, any more silverware, for Los Blancos did pick up the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup earlier in the year.

This fact will be of course dismissed by many with the former derided as a pre season friendly, and the latter as a mid season nuisance, yet Madrid's success in those particular competitions gives an insight into why this season might not have been a complete write off for the ten time European champions.

The UEFA Super Cup back in August was Toni Kroos' first game in a Real Madrid shirt,  and the German slotted in perfectly to the team helping them overcome Sevilla 2-0. The performance from Kroos was a sign of things to come and in his first season at the Bernabeu the 25-year-old has shown what a tremendous purchase he was, and how he will help the side for many years to come. 

December's success in the Club World Cup in Morocco was the zenith of the campaign for Los Blancos, as Madrid claimed the title and extended their winning run to a club record 22 successive games. The side were playing with balance and fluency, yet the second half of the season was a different story. It could be that some players were fatigued after a summer World Cup and a winter playing in North Africa as well as friendly in Dubai.

What is without doubt is that injuries hit the side hard, with Luka Modric, James Rodriguez, Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema all missing large chunks of the season. Of those it was arguably Modric who was the biggest loss, and it is no coincidence that Madrid's title challenge and Champions League defense fell apart with the Croatian missing.

In any other club, the season overall could be considered extremely solid, yet Real Madrid is no ordinary club and as their president Florentino Perez said last week "We are insatiably in pursuit of success". Their desire for victory will not therefore have been sated by the 2014/2015 season, yet while the constant search for glory is an admirable mindset for a sporting entity it is worth reflecting with emotional detachment upon the campaign.

Naturally it is disappointing to miss out on domestic trophies as well as the chance to become the first team ever to successfully defend the Champions League. Yet there are also some great positives to take from what we have seen over the last nine months.

Cristiano Ronaldo's staggering goal scoring shows no signs of slowing down with the Portuguese hungrier than ever in the final third. New signings Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez have fitted in brilliantly, adapting admirably to the pressure of the Bernabeu and becoming first choice players. While youngsters Dani Carvajal and Rafael Varane are maturing into intelligent and physically imposing defenders who will surely be the foundation of the Madrid back line for the next decade.

The present might be filled with disappointment for Madridistas, but there are enough reasons to believe that the future could bring the kind of the success that the club demands.