Madrid: Spain’s La Liga is in line for a dramatic last round of matches this season after the penultimate round only resolved one issue and left 11 sides with plenty to play for next weekend.
Espanyol were relegated to the second division in heartbreaking circumstances as they drew 2-2 away to Valencia in a round of matches almost all played at the same time, reports Xinhua.
Diego Lopez put Valencia ahead in the 37th minute, but Cesar Montes drew Espanyol level two minutes later. Martin Braithwaite then put Espanyol ahead four minutes into the second half, but just when it looked as if Espanyol could celebrate a win to keep their survival hopes alive, Samuel Lino scored in injury time to save a vital point for Valencia and send Espanyol down.
Cadiz continued their positive home form with a 1-0 win against Celta Vigo, who now sit in 17th position in La Liga with 40 points after just one win in 11 games. Ruben Sobrino’s solitary goal gave three points to Cadiz and lifted his side up to 13th, although they still need to win away to Elche in their last game of the season to stay up.
Valladolid are in the last relegation spot despite a 0-0 draw away to Almeria, who now have work to do on the last day of the season, while Valladolid need to win at home to Getafe to remain in the top flight.
Getafe came back from a goal down to beat Osasuna 2-1 in another dramatic game. The visitors, who are chasing a place in next season’s Conference League, took an early lead through Chimy Avila, but Juanmi Latasa equalized in the 39th minute and Jaime Mata netted the goal that lifted his side out of the bottom three in the last minute.
Osasuna remain seventh despite their defeat after Lucas Boye’s goal in the last moments of the game saw already-relegated Elche win 1-0 away to Athletic Club Bilbao.
Elche keeper Edgar Badia was his side’s hero with a string of excellent saves as Athletic peppered the Elche goal but were unable to score and Boye won the game with virtually the last kick of the game on the break.
Girona still have a chance of finishing seventh, despite a 2-1 defeat at home to Betis, who assured they finish at least sixth with two goals from Borja Iglesias.
Real Sociedad will finish fourth, despite a 2-1 defeat away to Atletico Madrid, who claimed the points and a place in next season’s Supercup with goals from Antoine Griezmann and Nahuel Molina.
Villarreal’s Champions League hopes ended with a 2-1 loss away to Rayo Vallecano in Andoni Iraola’s last game as coach in the Vallecas Stadium. Raul de Tomas and Isi Palazon rewarded an excellent Rayo display that also gives them the chance of finishing seventh on what will be a tense last weekend, with five sides looking for a place in Europe and six teams trying to avoid one relegation spot.
Rodrygo scored twice for Real Madrid in their 2-1 win away to Sevilla. Both sides rotated their squads as Sevilla prepare for Wednesday’s Europa League final, with Rafa Mir putting Sevilla ahead before Rodrygo’s two goals.
Saturday also saw Granada and Las Palmas win promotion from the Spanish second division to La Liga, with Alaves, Eibar, Levante and Albacete to play off for the final promotion place.
–IANS