'Madrid were better than us'

Following a final day which ended in disappointment, Barcelona veteran Andres Iniesta spoke with gravitas as he described Real Madrid as deserving La Liga champions and revealed why they were beat to the league title this season.

The Spanish midfielder insists that Madrid were the better side on the course to winning the title.

The race for first place came down to the final games of the season. Barcelona started sloppily against Eibar but overturned a two goal deficit en route to a 4-2 victory to keep pressure on their bitter rivals.

However, three points was not enough as Zinedine Zidane's men defeated Malaga 2 -0 at the La Rosaleda to claim his first La Liga title for the first time as a manager and also for the first time for Real in five years.

Post-match the experienced midfielder, Iniesta, made clear that Real were the deserving champions after a season where the two teams battled neck and neck.

"We have done our job by winning today but we have been up against a rival who has just been a little better than us, they are a deserving champion," he explained to BeIN.

Consistency has been a real issue for the Catalan giants this season with results often slipping away at crucial moments in the campaign and this hasn't been lost on the 33-year-old or coach Luis Enrique.

"La Liga is 38 games long and it rewards consistency. We were not consistent enough -- especially earlier in the season at home -- and we have paid for that," said Enrique. "We didn't depend on ourselves [going into the final day]. We fought until the very end and now we congratulate a worthy champion."

While Iniesta added: "We haven't found the consistency that is necessary to be champions, it is a shame because we have only missed out by three points."

Barcelona will face Alaves on May 27 while Real Madrid will be up against Juventus in Cardiff Wales come June 3rd for the Champions League finals.