Real Madrid end troubled La Liga season with win as Mallorca, Girona down
BARCELONA: Real Madrid ended a troubled La Liga campaign with a 4-2 win over Athletic Bilbao in Alvaro Arbeloa’s last game at the helm, while Mallorca and Girona were relegated from the Spanish top flight on Saturday.
In the final round of fixtures, Mallorca defeated already-relegated Real Oviedo 3-0 to reach 42 points, but it was not enough to survive.
Girona were held to a 1-1 draw by Elche, which kept the visitors up and sent the Catalan side down, just one season after they played in the Champions League.
Veteran Polish striker Robert Lewandowski scored for champions Barcelona in his final match for the club, but goals from Javi Guerra, Luis Rioja and Guido Rodriguez snatched a 3-1 victory for Valencia.
Celta Vigo wrapped up Europa League qualification with a 1-0 win over Sevilla to come sixth, while Getafe secured seventh and a Conference League berth with a 1-0 win over Osasuna.
Dani Carvajal, playing his last game for Real Madrid, produced a sensational ball for Gonzalo Garcia to fire the second-place hosts ahead against Athletic.
England international Jude Bellingham scored a superb second, before Gorka Guruzeta slammed past Thibaut Courtois for Ernesto Valverde’s visitors just before the break in the coach’s last game at the helm.
La Liga’s top goalscorer Kylian Mbappe swept home from outside the area for Madrid’s third, his 25th goal of the season in the top flight.
When Carvajal was taken off with 10 minutes to go, both teams gave the 34-year-old a guard of honour as he bid an emotional goodbye to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Morocco international Brahim Diaz tucked home a fourth late on as Madrid were at least able to sign off from a disappointing trophyless campaign on a high note, despite Urko Izeta pulling another back for Athletic.
Levante survived in 16th and Osasuna in 17th despite defeats and finishing on 42 points, the same tally as relegated Mallorca in 18th, because of head to head results between the three sides.
On Sunday, in the final match of the season, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid battle for third place.
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