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Two La Liga berths in Europe are up for grabs
Rekha Prajapati | May 19, 2025 2:27 PM CST

Madrid On the last day of the season, the penultimate round of La Liga games determined who finished the season in fourth place, who earned the final two spots in Europe, and who was relegated to the second tier with Las Palmas and Valladolid.

With a 1-0 victory against Valencia on the road, Athletic Bilbao secured fourth place and a spot in the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia the next season.

According to Xinhua, Alex Berenguer’s incredible curling goal with 19 minutes remaining handed Athletic a well-earned victory and eliminated Valencia’s faint hopes of making it to Europe.

Despite Villarreal’s 3-2 victory in Montjuic, which ruined FC Barcelona’s La Liga celebrations, Athletic secured fourth place on head-to-head goal differential.

Villarreal took the lead with a goal from Ayoze Perez in the fourth minute. Although Fermin Lopez and Lamine Yamal restored the lead before halftime, Santi Comesana equalized five minutes later, and Tajon Buchanan scored the winning goal for the visitors ten minutes from the end.

With two goals from Julian Alvarez, one from Robin le Normand, and a late goal from Angel Correa in what is likely to be his last home game for the team, Atletico Madrid secured third place with a 4-1 victory against Real Betis, who were concentrating on the UEFA Conference League final.

With a significantly altered Real Madrid traveling to the south of Spain with an eye on the FIFA Club World Cup in June, Sevilla and Real Madrid had nothing to lose except pride.

After 12 minutes, Sevilla defender Loric Bade was sent off for dragging back Kylian Mbappe, who was the last defender, which made Madrid’s job simpler.

Sevilla had nine men when Isaac Romero was sent off for a poor tackle on Aurelien Tchouameni in the 48th minute. Mbappe didn’t break the tie until the 75th minute, when Jude Bellingham added a second three minutes from time.

Despite a 2-1 loss against Rayo Vallecano at home, Celta Vigo remains in the lead for the last Europa League slot when Izi Palazon and Jorge de Frutos overturned Marcos Alonso’s early penalty for the home team.

Rayo is one point behind Celta heading into the season finale, as is Osasuna, who defeated Espanyol 2-0 at home courtesy to a late strike from Raul Garcia and Ante Budimir’s 21st goal of the year.

Due to Espanyol’s loss, Barcelona will play Leganes in the season’s last match to escape relegation. Leganes defeated Las Palmas 1-0 on the road courtesy to an early header from Dani Raba.

Espanyol can maintain their lead with a victory against Las Palmas at home, while Leganes must defeat Valladolid, who are at the bottom of the league, and hope Espanyol loses.


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