FCBARCELONA.CAT

17.05.2010 11:23

Spanish League Roundup: Matchday 38

John Chaplin

Barca’s comfortable win condemned Valladolid to join Xerez and Tenerife in the 2nd Division. Sevilla left it to the last moment to claim the fourth CL place while Getafe ended a season with a derby win against Atletico to qualify for the Europa Leagu

The Champions League

Real Madrid and Valencia went into the last game of the season in the knowledge that 2nd and 3rd places were already guaranteed. Real needed to win away to Malaga and hope for Barca to slip up against Valladolid, who themselves desperately needed to take something from the match to avoid relegation. In the event, Malaga took an early lead through Duda and though van der Vaart equalised 10 minutes into the second half Malaga held on for a deserved point that was enough to keep them in the First Division

By contrast, Valencia had little to play for with third place already confirmed. But they just about did enough at home to Tenerife to claim the three points and, along the way, send the Canary Islanders back to the Second Division.

With Barca cruising to a comfortable win at home to Valladolid, the only real uncertainty at the top of the table was who would claim fourth place and the final Champions League spot. Sevilla travelled to Almeria needing a win to clinch fourth place ahead of Mallorca. Mallorca made no mistake at home to Espanyol and ended a highly successful season with a 2-0 win. Meanwhile, in Almeria Sevilla were being held to a 2-2 draw, a result that would have handed the last Champions League ticket to Mallorca until Rodri, a 19-year-old from the reserves, popped up in the 94th minute to score and send Sevilla to next season’s Champions League.

The Europa League

While Mallorca fans will no doubt be disappointed with the consolation prize of the Europa League, Getafe capped a splendid season – their best ever in the top flight - with a 0-3 win in the Madrid derby away to Atletico to finish sixth on 58 points. For their part, Villarreal had to win on their travels to Zaragoza and hope that Atletico Madrid could follow up on their midweek success against Fulham in the Europa League final and deny Getafe the three points that would guarantee a sixth place finish. In fact they went 3-0 down within half an hour but fought back to draw 3-3 and finish in seventh place with 56 points.

Relegation

Xerez finished bottom on 34 points despite taking a point from a 1-1 draw away to Osasuna. Tenerife and Valladolid both finished on 36 points after losing to Valencia (1-0) and Barca (4-0) respectively and will join Xerez in the Second Division next season. A point at home to Real Madrid was enough to keep Malaga in the top flight for another season while Racing Santander took all three points at home to Sporting and ended the season on 39 points.

Finally, Athletic Club Bilbao beat Deportivo 2-0 to secure 8th place while Deportivo had to settle for 10th place after a positive start to the season had promised the possibility of European football next season