Real Madrid send Levante down while Real Sociedad assure place in Europe

Madrid: Real Madrid continued their preparations for the Champions League final with a comfortable 6-0 win at home to Levante.

First-half goals from Ferland Mendy, Karim Benzema, Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr gave Madrid a 4-0 lead as Carlo Ancelotti continued to rotate his side ahead of the final in two and a half weeks.

Vinicius scored his second of the game in the 68th minute and completed his hat-trick seven minutes from time against a rival that appeared to accept their fate on Thursday night.

The result means Levante become the first side of the season to be relegated to the second division, given they have an inferior head-to-head goal average with fourth from bottom Cadiz.

Real Sociedad beat Cadiz 3-0 in the first kick-off of the day to ensure they will play at least Conference League next season.

Alexander Sorloth put the home side ahead in the 19th minute of the game and penalties scored by Adnan Januzaj in the 53rd minute and Portu deep in injury time mean the team from San Sebastian can finish no lower than seventh this season.

The result also means that Cadiz still have work to do to avoid relegation and this weekend’s match against Alaves will be vital to their survival.

Villarreal also took a big step towards qualifying for Europe next season as they won 5-1 away to Rayo Vallecano.

Alfonso Pedraza put the visitors ahead in the third minute and although Sergi Guardiola pulled a goal back for Rayo, Juan Foyth, Paco Alcacer and Pau Torres made it 4-1 to the visitors before halftime.

Pedraza netted a second in the second half to seal an easy win for the visitors.

The win leaves Villarreal four points clear of eighth-place Athletic Club Bilbao, who lost 1-0 to Granada on Tuesday.

Other results this week saw FC Barcelona win 3-1 at home to Celta, while Atletico Madrid assured a place in next season’s Champions League with a 2-0 win in Elche, who are safe from relegation.

–IANS

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