Barcelona seal second in Spanish league, Cadiz demoted (2024)

Barcelona have routed Rayo Vallecano 3-0 to secure the lucrative second place in the Spanish league, while champions Real Madrid drew 4-4 at Villarreal as Norway striker Alexander Sorloth scoring all four goals for the hosts.

There won't be much left to fight for in the final round next weekend as Cadiz became the last team to be relegated after being held to a 0-0 draw at home against Las Palmas.

Real Sociedad secured the last Europa League spot with a 2-0 win at Real Betis, who were left with a place in the Europa Conference League.

Pedri scored twice and Robert Lewandowski once for Barcelona, who kept a four-point gap to Catalan rivals Girona with a round to go.

Girona won 3-1 at Valencia for their first-ever third place finish in the Spanish league. They had already clinched a Champions League place in advance of Sunday's matches.

Atletico Madrid will finish fourth after a 4-1 loss to midtable Osasuna at their Metropolitano stadium.

Lewandowski scored in the third minute and Pedri added goals in the 72nd and 75th as Barcelona won for the fourth time in five matches to seal second place and a spot in the lucrative Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Madrid and Copa del Rey finalists Mallorca and Athletic Bilbao also will play in the Super Cup next season.

The victory came a day after Xavi denied a slew of reports in Spanish media outlets that Barcelona's leadership is considering firing the coach for having said that the club's poor finances will impede it from competing with Madrid.

"The situation hasn't changed," Xavi said. "I imagine I'll speak with the president tomorrow or the next day. We needed the win to secure second place and we did it."

Some fans chanted in support of Xavi and against Laporta during Sunday's match.

Rayo are in 16th place.

Sorloth scored once in the first half and three times in the second to give eighth-place Villarreal a draw against Madrid, who scored all of their goals before halftime.

Arda Guler scored twice and Joselu and Lucas Vazquez added a goal each for Madrid, who played with a mostly-reserve squad as they continues to prepare for the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund on June 1 in London.

Madrid had clinched their 36th league title three rounds ago.

Cadiz needed a win against Las Palmas to avoid returning to the second division for the first time since the 2019-20 season.

Cadiz, coming off two consecutive victories, had a goal disallowed by video review for offside in the first half, and saw defender Victor Chust sent off with a straight red card in the 74th.

Almeria and Granada had already been relegated before Sunday's games.

Sociedad sealed the final Europa League spot with the win against Manuel Pellegrini's Betis.

Brais Mendez and Mikel Merino scored first-half goals for Sociedad.

The other Europa League place had been secured by Athletic Bilbao, who beat 13th-place Sevilla 2-0.

In other results, 17th-place Mallorca drew 2-2 against last-place Almeria and Celta Vigo won 2-1 at second-to-last Granada.

Australian Associated Press