体坛英语新闻：FC Barcelona celebrates La Liga tittle in its hometown

BARCELONA, Spain, May 13 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona held on Monday a parade to celebrate with fans and citizens of Barcelona their BBVA Primera Liga tittle with football players on two open top buses that made a route of about eight kilometers around the city surrounded by a large crowd.

The parade began at 18:30 local time (16:30 GMT) from the port of Barcelona and went through the main streets and avenues of the city where the fans of the team had already been waiting for a long time to see their idols.

The parade ended at the square of Doctor Ignasi Barraquer, east of the city, without passing by Barcelona' s stadium, Camp Nou, where the celebration will be held on Sunday.

The parade consisted of two coaches: on the first one it was possible to see Barcelona' s players and the technical team (among them Barcelona' s coach Tito Vilanova) while in the second one, there was a band and the female football team Barcelona A who also won La Liga this season for the second consecutive time.

This is the first time the two teams parade together, while the last time for Barca was two years ago when the team won La Liga and the Champions League.

The FC Barcelona was proclaimed champions on Saturday night after Real Madrid draw with Espanyol.

This is the 22nd La Liga title for the team, the fourth over the last five seasons, in a difficult year due to the illness of his coach Vilanova, who had to be operated again of a cancer and continue a treatment in New York for more than two months.

The return of Eric Abidal in April 2013 and Vilanova in March were good news for the team. The French player returned to action after 13 months due to a liver cancer that required a transplant.

The most emotional celebration with speeches will be next Sunday at the Camp Nou after the match against Valladolid.