Two European Spots To Be Decided In La Liga

(MENAFN- IANS) Madrid, May 19 (IANS) The penultimate round of matches in La Liga resolved who ends the campaign in fourth place, who takes the final two European places and who joins Las Palmas and Valladolid in relegation to the second division to be decided on the last day of the season.

Athletic Bilbao ensured fourth place and qualification for next season's Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia with a 1-0 win away to Valencia.

Alex Berenguer's stunning curling shot 19 minutes from time gave Athletic a deserved win while also ending Valencia's slim changes of qualifying for Europe, reports Xinhua.

Athletic confirmed fourth place on head-to-head goal difference over Villarreal, even though Villarreal gatecrashed FC Barcelona's La Liga celebrations with a 3-2 win in Montjuic.

Ayoze Perez put Villarreal ahead in the fourth minute, and although Lamine Yamal and Fermin Lopez turned the score around before halftime, Santi Comesana equalized five minutes after the break, with Tajon Buchanan netting the winner for the visitors 10 minutes from time.

Atletico Madrid sealed third place with a 4-1 at home to a Real Betis side focused on the UEFA Conference League final, with two goals from Julian Alvarez, one from Robin le Normand and a late goal from Angel Correa in what is probably his last home game for the club.

Sevilla and Real Madrid had only pride to play for, with a much-changed Real Madrid travelling to the south of Spain with one eye on the FIFA Club World Cup in June.

Madrid's task was made easier after 12 minutes when Sevilla defender Loric Bade was sent off for pulling back Kylian Mbappe when he was the last defender.

Isaac Romero was then sent off for a bad challenge on Aurelien Tchouameni to leave Sevilla with nine men in the 48th minute, but it wasn't until the 75th minute that Mbappe finally broke the deadlock, with Jude Bellingham adding a second three minutes from time.

Celta Vigo is still in pole position for the last Europa League spot despite a 2-1 defeat at home to Rayo Vallecano, with Izi Palazon and Jorge de Frutos overturning Marcos Alonso's early penalty for the home side.

Rayo is a point behind Celta going into the last game of the season, as is Osasuna, who won 2-0 at home to Espanyol thanks to Ante Budimir's 21st goal of the season and a late finish from Raul Garcia.

Espanyol's defeat means the side from Barcelona will duel it out with Leganes in the last game of the season to avoid relegation after Leganes won 1-0 away to Las Palmas thanks to Dani Raba's early header.

A win at home to Las Palmas will keep Espanyol up, while Leganes has to win at home to bottom of the table Valladolid and hope Espanyol doesn't win.

Alaves and Getafe are both safe from the drop after Kike Garcia's 13th goal of the season gave Alaves a 1-0 win in Valladolid, while second half goals from Mauro Arambarri and Christiantus Uche ended Getafe's six-match losing streak with a 2-1 win in Mallorca.

Finally, Imanol Alguacil's last home game as Real Sociedad coach after six years in charge ended with a 3-2 win at home to Girona.

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