There had been serious doubts about whether the game would even go ahead with Levante's playing staff announcing earlier this week that they were to go on an indefinite strike due to unpaid wages.

But that strike was called off earlier on Sunday and Madrid were subsequently able to celebrate their title success with a three-point haul, the goals coming from Ruud van Nistelrooy (two), Sergio Ramos (two) and Wesley Sneijder.

Levante, whose players had barely trained this week, did not disgrace themselves though and they had two second-half goals from Alexandre Geijo to celebrate.

The first 10 minutes of the match had the air of a pre-season friendly, with neither team looking to break into a sweat and plenty of empty seats at the Bernabeu.

But Madrid were soon into their stride and Levante goalkeeper Manuel Reina did well to tip over Robinho's piledriver in the 12th minute, before the Brazilian then shot wide after being put through by Sneijder.

Levante briefly threatened in the 19th minute when Laurent Courtois sent in a superb left-footed effort that produced an equally impressive save from Jordi Codina on his Madrid debut.

Visiting defender Inaki Descarga then tried his luck from the halfway line with a shot that just cleared the bar, an effort that was warmly applauded by the home fans.

That was as good as it got for Levante in the first half though, as Madrid suddenly shifted through the gears and were rewarded with three goals in an 18-minute spell.

Van Nistelrooy broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute when he powered in a header at the far post after Ramos had flicked on Sneijder's corner.

Madrid were looking a threat every time they ventured forward and only a couple of marginal offside decisions denied them further opportunities.

The Levante offside trap was broken in the 31st minute though as Madrid made it 2-0.

Guti picked up possession in acres of space behind the visiting defence and his cross was met by the diving Ramos, who thundered a header past Reina.

Madrid were not finished there though, and Van Nistelrooy made it 3-0 just before the break with his fourth in three games since returning from his ankle operation.

The Dutchman just failed to get on the end of Ramos' initial cross, but when Robinho immediately put the ball back into the danger zone Van Nistelrooy stuck out a boot to deflect it home.

That was the game over as a contest and all that was left was to see how many goals Madrid would run up in the second half.

The next goal of the match arrived seven minutes after the break, but surprisingly the scorers were Levante.

Courtois did well down the right and his cross into the centre was turned home at close-range by Geijo.

Levante's joy quickly turned to more disappointment though as Madrid restored their three-goal advantage just two minutes later through Sneijder.

The Dutchman, who inherited David Beckham's number 23 shirt, showed dead-ball skills the former England captain would have been proud of with a superb curling free-kick into the top corner.

That was not the end of the goals though, and battling Levante pulled another one back in the 64th minute.

It was the same double act that produced Levante's first goal that was again involved, with Courtois sending in a cross from the right that Geijo got on the end of before slamming a shot into the roof of the net.

There was still time after that for one more goal, with Ramos heading home Sneijder's corner at the far post to complete the scoring and allow Madrid to begin their title celebrations, which included being presented with the Primera Liga trophy.