MADRID — In an dominating season for Real Madrid, it was only fitting that it didn’t even need its best players to win the Spanish league.

Using its backups ahead of the Champions League semifinals, Madrid earned a record-extending 35th Spanish league title with a comfortable 4-0 home win over Espanyol on Saturday.

Rodrygo scored twice and Marco Asensio and substitute Karim Benzema added on to give Madrid its second league title in three seasons, and third in six years.

The victory gave Madrid an insurmountable lead with four rounds to go. It was 17 points in front of Sevilla, which drew with Cádiz 1-1 on Friday, and 18 points ahead of Barcelona, which hosts Mallorca on Sunday. Madrid has nine more league titles than Barcelona.

Carlo Ancelotti became the first coach to lift trophies in the top five European leagues. The Italian manager won with AC Milan in Serie A, Chelsea in the English Premier League, Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1, and Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. — Agencies