REAL MADRID celebrated their La Liga title triumph in style by crushing arch-rivals Barcelona 4-1 at the Bernabeu.

The Catalans, beaten in the Champions League semi-finals by Manchester United, also lost their automatic place in next season's tournament.

First-half goals from Raul and Arjen Robben, a classy strike from Gonzalo Higuain and a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty earned Bernd Schuster's side an emphatic win that delighted the home fans packed into the rain-soaked stadium.

Thierry Henry scored a late goal for Barca but it was little consolation for a side who were outclassed and finished the game with 10 men when midfielder Xavi was sent off in stoppage time.

Defeat for Barcelona, combined with Villarreal's 2-0 victory at relegation-threatened Recreativo Huelva, left the Catalans seven points behind Manuel Pellegrini's side who will now finish second, their best-ever finish in the league.

With two matches left, Real lead on 81 points, 10 ahead of Villarreal and 17 clear of Barca, who have won just one of their last seven games.

"We wanted to celebrate the title with our fans and play a great game and we did that," Schuster said. "The attitude of the players was superb."

Barca, having suffered the indignity of applauding Real onto the pitch in the traditional guard of honour tribute to the champions, appeared intimidated when the game began.

Real, meanwhile, suffered no hangover from their late-night title celebrations on Sunday, and were in control.