Espanyol relegated, Celta de Carvalhal will try to save in the last round

Espanyol was, this Sunday, relegated to the second tier of Spanish football, with La Liga promising a lot of emotion in the last round, with several teams still fighting for Europe and also for permanence.

The 37th and penultimate round confirmed Espanyol’s goodbye, with the Barcelona team drawing (2-2) in Valencia, another of the afflicted, with Samuel Lino, a former Gil Vicente player, already in added time (90+3 minutes), killing the hope of the Catalans once and for all.

Espanyol join Elche in the relegated teams, with Valladolid, Celta de Vigo, Carlos Carvalhal, Almeria, Getafe, Valencia and Cádiz all trying to escape the same fate in the decisive round of the competition.

Despite being defeated in Madrid by Atlético (2-1), Real Sociedad confirmed their presence in the Champions League next season with the help of Villarreal, a team that was still fighting, but which lost at Rayo Vallecano’s ground (2- 1) and was only guaranteed access to the Europa League.

In the European accounts, all that remains is to define the Spanish representative in the Europa Conference League and in this race five emblems appear, with Osasuna, Athletic Bilbao, Girona, Rayo Vallecano and Sevilla all having chances of still finishing seventh.

This situation happened because of Osasuna, currently ranked seventh, who were defeated at Getafe’s home (2-1), and Athletic Bilbao, eighth, who were surprised in the Basque Country by Elche (1-0).

Osasuna and Bilbao both have 50 points, with Girona, Rayo Vallecano and Sevilla reaching the last round with 49.

In the fight for permanence, Celta, from Carvalhal, could have already been saved, but ended up defeated at Cádiz (1-0) and will now have to suffer until the end.

The last round will start with Valladolid in the relegation zone, with 39 points, followed by Almeria and Celta, with 40, and Getafe, Valencia and Cádiz, with 41.

Champions Barcelona beat Mallorca 3-0 at home, with a brace from Fati, in the game that marked Jordi Alba’s farewell to Camp Nou after 11 seasons at the Catalan club.