(Reuters) - Esther Gonzalez scored a hat-trick as Atletico Madrid beat Real Sociedad 3-1 to edge out Barcelona and win the Spanish women's championship, the Liga Iberdrola, for a third successive year on Sunday.
Atletico raced into a 2-0 lead at halftime with two goals from Gonzalez, who completed her hat-trick following the interval to seal the victory and the league title 10 minutes after Beatriz Beltran had replied for Sociedad.
Barcelona had set up an exciting end to the season by beating Atletico in front of a record 60,000 supporters for a women's match in March but their title bid ended following a 1-0 defeat at Granadilla Tenerife.
Atletico ended the season with 84 points from 30 games, six ahead of Barca, who will play in the Champions League final against Olympique Lyonnais on May 18 in Budapest.
Atletico have the chance to complete a domestic double when they face Sociedad again next Saturday in the Copa de la Reina final.
Fundacion Albacete finished bottom of the league standings after losing 4-1 at Logrono while Malaga were also relegated despite winning 4-2 at home to Rayo Vallecano.
(Reporting by Richard Martin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)