'La Liga is ours, so is the future': Barcelona celebrate 27th title win, first since Messi's exit (WATCH)

Even as Barcelona fans hope their legend Lionel Messi will make a sensational return, the Catalan club has done its supporters proud by clinching the first La Liga title after the Argentine's departure with a 4-2 victory against Espanyol on Sunday.

Polish superstar Robert Lewandowski scored twice to lead Barcelona to its first league title since 2019. Alejandro Balde and Jules Koundé also scored for Barcelona, which now has 27 league titles, eight fewer than Real Madrid.

With four rounds remaining and two years after Lionel Messi left the team due to financial difficulties, the championship was locked up.

Barcelona now has an unbeatable 85 points from 34 games after defeating city rival Espanyol. This is 14 points more than Madrid, which on Saturday defeated Getafe 1-0.

Barcelona has had a difficult time lately, both on and off the pitch. Still, their victory on Sunday represents a huge turnaround, and coach Xavi Hernandez has won his first key title since taking over in November 2021.

President Joan Laporta's rebuild received harsh criticism last summer due to the club's precarious financial state.

Although an early Champions League exit was disappointing, the club rebounded in January by winning the Spanish Super Cup and then clinching La Liga victory with four games remaining.

"It was a very emotional moment, a moment very hard not to celebrate after so many months of work," said Xavi Hernandez. "We didn't celebrate just because it was Espanyol's stadium."

The coach said that the victory was proof that the club was heading in the right direction.

"(It brings) a lot of calm, a lot of hope for the future," said the Barcelona boss. "I am very happy. We did a great job, a league won with four games remaining, that's to the absolute merit of the team."

Barcelona's first team onto the pitch with one goal in mind and the end in sight after Xavi made no unexpected lineup changes.

With four games left, they produced an electrifying performance, one of their best this season, to secure the victory and drop their city rivals to 19th place, four points from safety.

Lewandowski gave Barcelona the advantage with a close-range goal following a brilliant Alejandro Balde pass.

The left-back scored the second goal after Pedri scooped a pass to the back post, where he pounced.

Before halftime, Raphinha sent the ball on a plate for Lewandowski to roll home, giving Barca their third goal.

The Catalans have reaped the rewards of the Polish striker's departure from Bayern Munich, who was an important component of the rebuilding effort last summer.

With Ousmane Dembele out for a significant portion of the season, Raphinha, who signed from Leeds, stood out against Espanyol with a spectacular performance.

"I am very happy and not just for myself, the whole team worked so hard," said Raphinha. "Only a few of us had won the league, it's the first for a lot of players, it's special. We worked so hard for this."

Early in the second half, Kounde scored the fourth goal after Frenkie de Jong's exquisite chipped pass caused another defensive breakdown for Espanyol.

While some Espanyol supporters left the stadium early, others chanted for the resignation of the board of directors and made one offensive reference to the club's Chinese owners.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen of Barcelona, who was aiming to tie the La Liga record of 26 clean sheets this season in the top division, stopped Puado when he was through on goal.

However, the Espanyol forward soon found himself through on goal again and scored with a beautiful lob, providing little solace in the face of Espanyol's defeat and Barcelona's triumph.

Joselu added another goal in the dying seconds, but it was too little, too late.

After the game, Xavi's team celebrated, infuriating Espanyol supporters who invaded the field. Barcelona players fled down the tunnel.

"I haven't seen the images, I always go in at the end of a game and from what I've been told, it's something that should not happen and should be condemned," said Espanyol coach Luis Garcia. "Measures were in place to avoid it, but it was not possible."

Atletico Madrid earlier suffered a shocking 1-0 loss against Elche, who were demoted.

At Celta Vigo, Valencia won a crucial late victory to move up to 14th place provisionally, three points above the relegation zone.