Iker Casillas, Real's captain and MC took over centre stage as Sergio Ramos played his understudy. Pipita, CR7, Pepe, Marcelo, and Esteban Granero chipped in with their thoughts as Karim Benzema, Mesut Oezil, and the rest of the non-Spanish speaking contingent skulked around the corners.

All sorts of records were set in Real's title winning season. For the first time in La Liga a side recorded 100 points as the side scored a record 121 goals with 51 of those coming in away matches, yet another record. They also won 32 matches with 16 of those coming on the road, both records.

They had to put up this enviable record against Barca who whilst a notch below their stratospheric standards were no underdogs. The Catalunyans also recorded 114 goals and gave away less with 29 compared to Real's 32 goals. In the end 9 points separated them. While the focus was rightly on these two giants battling away, there was no real suspense left of the nail biting variety witnessed in the Premiership or in the Serie just this week. Real had pulled away a month ago.

The victory also comes at the expense of the other clubs. The redistribution of points and goals scored are a socialist's dream. Third placed Valencia were 39 points behind Real with less than half the goals scored. Yes, 39 points. That was five more points than
the difference between Racing Santander, 16 places removed from Valencia and at the very bottom. In the Premiership Arsenal was 19 points behind City and Utd, a considerably larger margin than usual but were 45 points ahead of relegated Wolves.

There is little doubt La Liga is becoming a soporific for most of us not invested in seeing two heavyweights land below the belt punches but it seems to be creating the phenomenon of other sides scrapping for secondary honours and seeking their fortunes in alternate competition. This is but a theory but measuring up constantly to Real and Barca uplifts the standards of the game on the whole as a Utd side found out against an excellent Athletic Bilbao side in the Europa Cup. The Basques finished the season 10th in La Liga on 49 points, a difference of 40 points between them and Utd who tied on points with City, the Premiership champions.

Yet, the 10th placed Liga team outplayed Utd, the Premiership runners up comprehensively as anyone watching those matches would testify. If this theory is correct than we shall see continued Spanish domination of the Europa Cup if Real and Barca continue their high end polarization of the Liga. This season, three out of the four semi-finalist were from that league and an even better Atletico Madrid side beat the Basques in the finals. Domestic despair, international repair.

The former Arsenal midfielder couldn't sit back and enjoy City's historic season. He had to resort to a cheap shot at his old club underlining that very true adage, "money doesn't buy you class."

He's a footnote in City's season having contributed little to their first ever Premiership title. City forked out over £20m for him and the only visual of Nasri one has is his desperate attempts to run circles around the opposition trying to resurrect that goal he scored against Porto while at Arsenal.

He was seventh fiddle to David Silva, Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Adam Johnson and Mario Balotelli who all scored more goals. Mancini would start him and then yank him out after Nasri's meanderings would go nowhere. His five goals in 30 matches and 2245 playing minutes represents a very poor return on investment. Comparably, his Arsenal career was far more productive at all levels of competition.

The bottomline: He wanted more money and nothing he does can ever whitewash that fact.

They have RVP in it so that must mean he's not going to Juventus. Wait, they had Fabregas a year ago too and look how that turned out.

Theo Walcott gets a lot of face time and reveals a new talent for taking free kicks against some immovable props. He seems to have it a wee bit harder against actual flesh and blood opposition.

Sczczesny dents Wenger's car in the end at which the Polish goalie skedaddles out of sight which can only mean one thing. The other Polish goalie is coming back. Yes, Lukasz Fabianski.

The kit actually looks very nice. But in the end this is geared towards fans paying lots of money to keep up.

This is a long overdue move. Pat Rice was joined at Arsene Wenger's hip as his assistant, an association that dates 16 years since the Frenchman joined the club. He has been part of Arsenal's glorious past as well as its less stellar present. But it is clear that Arsenal need to reverse course with some new thinking especially when it comes to the defensive end.

There have been times this season when Arsenal's defense stood out looking sharp and pre-emptive but as demonstrated against Norwich, Blackburn, Wigan, Swansea, QPR (take your pick) it has been more undisciplined and reactive. With such massive variations in performance there is no possibility of a default setting. But the statistic of 47 goals conceded stands out as another egregious example of a defense gone bad. Arsenal will not win any future Premierships if this continues.

At the heart, Arsenal rely on a centre back pair in Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny who show the requisite skills individually but in conjunction seem to be at odds. Vermaelen in particular with his attacking instincts gets caught out of position frequently and his method then to tackle his way out of that jam are sometimes subject to a referee's worst interpretation. Per Mertesacker suffers from no illusion going forward but he is about a step slower for the pace of the Premiership. Johan Djourou waxes and wanes in his performances and he and Vermaelen get shunted around depending on injuries and the exigencies of a team involved in multiple competitions.

Bacary Sagna is still one of the best right backs in the business but he faces a long off season re-fracturing his right leg. At left back Kieran Gibbs and Andre Santos have shown they don't fear going forward but the problem lies in their more porous ability to stop counter attacks. With Arsenal's midfield looking less incisive and assured in possession, Alexander Song has thrust himself into the role of creative spark with more pronounced forays into the top third. Unfortunately, Song has shown to be more remiss in controlling the backfield in the absence of Mikel Arteta or an off day from the former Evertonian.

Last year it was set pieces that deflated Arsenal's season. This year they have considerably improved in that department but a soft midfield highlighted Arsenal's Achilles heel against strong counterattacking teams that break in numbers. When you play such a high line and compress the field you're playing percentages. There has to be a corresponding recognition that it takes inches to be onside. Maintaining a defensive shape and being disciplined is key to dealing when losing possession which has plagued the Gunners more so than any past season (the passing accuracy has been the lowest in years). The sight of so many sides floating a long ball down the centre or quickly snapping to the flanks to surge upfield while Arsenal gather their defensive wits has become all too familiar.

These are some of the vexing issues that Steve Bould faces in his role as Wenger's new assistant. However the biggest challenge he faces are two fold.

One, chart a course to bring back the philosophy that defense can be used to subjugate and win matches. This is nothing new to Wenger. It was the way Arsenal became ascendant in the late 90s for about six years. The 2004 Invincibles share a stunning resemblance to this year's unbeaten Juventus side. Plenty of creative wheels but more so an intimidating, forceful back line that buckled the knees of the opposition with each tackle. Teams were afraid of playing Arsenal. After 2005, defense fell of Wenger's radar and it coincides with Arsenal's dip in fortunes.

Two, to get Wenger to invest in defenders who make that transition possible. This is easier said then done with a manager as stubborn, thrifty, and micro-managing as Wenger. But Bould also has the luxury of hindsight having seen the after effects of seven years of short termism. The Arsenal manager's choices in this critical area have been scattershot, built on expediency, and the economic bottom line. Bould cannot afford to be a rubber stamp in Wenger's budgeting and has to be a forceful and independent minded advocate of bringing backfield quality to the Emirates. Pat Rice was hired more for his ease working with Wenger and not for any fresh insights or activism. Bould along with Tony Adams, Nigel Winterburn, Lee Dixon were part of the famous four that brought Wenger his first success in the Premiership. It was a template for future success.

Athletic Bilbao with 60% of the possession was the better team but Atletico with Radamel Falcao and Diego had all the individual brilliance. The Colombian was virtually unstoppable in front of goal proving too strong and too quick for the Atletico defense. His first goal in the 6th minute came after his skittering feet kept Fernando Amorebieta indecisive and in a flash while the defender pondered rolled the ball to his left foot and smashed it into the upper right hand corner of the far post.

The second goal was even better as in the 33rd minute Arda Turan's cross found Falcao taking the ball one way and then dragging it back with his right leg leaving three defenders in disarray before turning on the ball with his left and hammering it past Gorka Iraizoz. He almost got a hat trick in the 79th minute but the upright denied him.

In the 85th minute Diego receiving the ball at centre decided to roll on forward on his own as he jinked his way past the unfortunate Amorebieta to send in an acutely angled shot past Iraizoz.

This was billed as a showdown between Fernando Llorente vs Radamel Falcao but it was no contest as the Athletic Bilbao striker was ponderous and sloppy while equally Falcao punished each defensive lapse with ruthless efficiency.

Athletic have already qualified for the Europa Cup next season as Barca their opponents in the Copa Del Rey final have themselves qualified for the Champions League. Atletico on the other hand are just two points off fourth placed Malaga and have therefore a very good chance of entering Europe's top competition. Diego Simeone and Marcelo Bielsa, both in their first season, have done a yeoman's job with these clubs to take them this far.

Congratulations to Atletico Madrid! A tip of the hat to all other teams for their attacking and skillful football that made following the Europa Cup such an enjoyable experience.

After two years one still doesn't quite know why Venky's decided to takeover Blackburn. The one thing that has been established unequivocally is that they did not do it because they loved football. The other imperative of raising the company's profile internationally by investing in a brand is also not being borne out by their step sisterly treatment of Rovers.

Step sister maybe an apt description of the way Anuradha Desai, Venky's CEO seems to have chosen in dealing with the club. Paul Hunt, Blackburn's deputy CEO in an extraordinary letter leaked to the press documents a 10 point proposal of how to reverse the club's course. In it he reveals how the ownership kept the board of directors at arms length, failed to take steps to sack Steve Kean, and almost brought the club to bankruptcy. Here is an example of Venky's disinterest and apathy.

" Regular visits to meet the owners in India. Six months after his appointment as deputy CEO, Hunt reveals, he has not met Desai."

Now they stand relegated from the Premiership for the first time in 11 years following their loss to Wigan on Monday.