Madrid, May 24 (IANS) The last round of matches in La Liga ended with a nail-biting end to the season which saw Mallorca and Girona join Oviedo in relegation to the second division, while Celta and Getafe assured their places in Europe for next season.
The last round kicked off with five teams in danger of the drop, but Elche would be safe if it could avoid defeat to Girona.
Alvaro Rodriguez’s 39th minute goal put Elche ahead, and although Arnau Martinez levelled early in the second half, Girona was unable to make its pressure felt in the closing minutes.
Mallorca won its last game of the season 3-0 at home to Oviedo, with goals from Pablo Torre, Manu Morlanes and Vedat Muriqi, who netted his 23rd goal of the campaign.
However, Spain’s head-to-head system of separating sides who finish level of points meant Mallorca needed results elsewhere to go their way. Although Levante lost 2-1 to Betis and Osasuna went to a 1-0 defeat in Getafe, Elche’s win doomed Mallorca to the drop with 42 points.
Getafe’s win, which came through Luis Milla’s 59th minute goal, assured a seventh-place finish and a spot in next season’s Conference League ahead of Rayo Vallecano, who fought back to win 2-1 away to Deportivo Alaves.
Toni Martinez put Alaves ahead, but Sergio Camello and Randy Nteka turned the score around for Rayo, who can book a place in next season’s Europa League if it beats Crystal Palace in the Conference League final on Wednesday.
Celta Vigo’s 1-0 win at home to Sevilla gave it a sixth-place finish thanks to Ilaix Moriba’s solitary strike. Espanyol drew 1-1 at home to Real Sociedad. Valencia’s 3-1 victory at home to Barcelona with goals from Javi Guerra, Luis Rioja and Guido Rodriguez wasn’t enough for a place in Europe, while Robert Lewandowski signed off from Barcelona with a goal.
Finally, Real Madrid said ‘goodbye’ to coach Alvaro Arbeloa and defenders Dani Carvajal and David Alaba with a 4-2 win over Athletic Bilbao with goals from Gonzalo, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Brahim Diaz, while Gorka Guruzeta and Urko Izeta scored in Ernesto Valverde’s 505th and last game as coach for Athletic.
–IANS
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