Author – Amrit Santlani
With just two games remaining in La Liga this season, the champion may have been crowned in FC Barcelona, but there’s still a lot to fight for. Real Madrid jumped back into second place at the start of the week after beating Rayo Vallecano 2-1 to overtake Atlético Madrid. Diego Simeone’s men could only respond with a draw in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Espanyol.
Real Betis suffered a major blow in their quest for a Europa League place next season as relegation-threatened Getafe picked up three crucial points to stay above the drop zone. In addition, Valencia, who were fined by the RFEF following the Vinicius Junior racism incident, dropped points against Mallorca, further worsening the situation for Ruben Baraja’s side, who are just two points above the relegation zone.
On Thursday, Real Betis hosted Getafe at Benito Villamarín, with both teams desperate for three points as they battled it out at opposite ends of the table. Omar Alderete opened the scoring in the 69th minute, giving the visitors the lead, before Manuel Pellegrini’s men were left with ten players as German Pezzella was sent off.
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Meanwhile, Atlético dropped to third place after drawing with Espanyol. Saul Niguez opened the scoring in the 21st minute, before Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Carrasco put the Rojiblancos 3-0 ahead. The hosts fought bravely and goals from Cesar Montes, Joselu and Vinicius Souza helped steal a point for Espanyol.
Valencia are perilously close to relegation after a 0-1 defeat to Mallorca. Vedat Muriqi scored the only goal of the game in the 64th minute to secure all three points for his team.
On Friday, Osasuna hosted Athletic Club in a tight battle for a place in the Europa League Conference. Osasuna beat Bilbao 2-0 at El Sadar, with Ante Budimir opening the scoring in the 50th minute, followed by Lucas Torro’s goal in the 77th minute to secure all three points for the hosts.