Barcelona can no longer finish second and will have to pre-qualify for next season's Champions League competition.

Villarreal, who started the day four points clear of the struggling Catalan giants, beat relegation-battlers Recreativo Huelva 2-0 to cement second place after Barcelona's humbling 4-1 reverse against their arch-rivals, celebrating a second consecutive league title in front of the delirious Bernabeu faithful.

After sportingly forming a tunnel for the victorious champions, the visitors' night quickly deteriorated even further, conceding two rapid goals as the celebrations spilled over onto the pitch.

Captain Raúl slotted the opener with an impressive first-time right-foot strike from the edge of the area after just 11 minutes.

Arjen Robben rose unmarked to meet Guti's pin-point free-kick to double the home side's lead ten minutes later though the visitors staged somewhat of a mini-comeback to reach the interval without shipping further goals.

Eighteen minutes after the re-start, however, substitute Higuain inflicted further damage, beating Valdés with a neat short-range lob after a precise square cross by Diarra.

Valdés was beaten for a fourth time, from the penalty spot this time, as the returning Van Nistelrooy converted after Puyol was deemed to have handled.

Thierry Henry restored some pride three minutes from time with a trademark curling effort from the edge of the area that was scant consolation under the circumstances.

Elsewhere, Valencia beat fellow relegation strugglers Real Zaragoza 1-0 at the Mestalla to move up into 13th place, and now five points clear of the dreaded drop zone.

Wednesday, 7th May
Getafe 4-2 Almeria
Real Betis 1-1 Valladolid
Recreativo Huelva 0-2 Villarreal
Valencia 1-0 Real Zaragoza
Racing Santander 0-3 Sevilla
Murcia 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Mallorca 2-1 Osasuna
Deportivo La Coruna 1-0 Levante
Real Madrid 4-1 Barcelona

Liga table, points after 36 games
1  Real Madrid  81
2  Villarreal  71
3  Barcelona  64
4  Atletico Madrid  58*
5  Sevilla  58
6  Racing Santander  56
7  Real Mallorca  53
8  Deportivo La Coruna  52
9  Athletic Bilbao  49
10 Almeria  49
11 Espanyol  48*
12 Real Betis  46
13 Valencia  45
14 Getafe  45
15 Real Valladolid  43
16 Real Zaragoza  41
17 Recreativo Huelva  40
18 Osasuna  40
19 Murcia  30
20 Levante  26
*played 35

Thursday, 8th May
Espanyol vs Atletico Madrid

Sunday, 11th May
Almeria vs Recreativo Huelva
Athletic Bilbao vs Racing Santander
Atletico Madrid vs Deportivo La Coruna
Barcelona vs Mallorca
Levante vs Valencia
Osasuna vs Murcia
Real Betis vs Sevilla
Real Zaragoza vs Real Madrid
Valladolid vs Getafe
Villarreal vs Espanyol

Sunday, 18th May
Deportivo vs Villarreal
Espanyol vs Almeria
Getafe vs Real Betis
Mallorca vs Zaragoza
Murcia vs Barcelona
Rac Santander vs Osasuna
Real Madrid vs Levante
Recreativo Huel vs Valladolid
Sevilla vs Bilbao