La Liga’s European spots confirmed while Espanyol are relegated

Marc-André ter Stegen equaled the record for most league clean sheets in a single season in Europe’s top five leagues with 26 clean sheets after Barcelona beat ten-man Mallorca 3-0 on Sunday. Barcelona, who are already confirmed champions, saw Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets play their final games for the club.

Ansu Fati scored a first-half brace before Gavi added a third in the second half. Meanwhile, Alejandro Balde, who was injured in the first half, has been scanned, and the club revealed that Alejandro Balde has a partial tear of the ligament in his right ankle and will miss 6-7 weeks. The 19-year-old made 44 appearances with six assists this season.

Meanwhile, Real Sociedad have qualified for the UEFA Champions League after a ten years absence from the competition. Their qualification was confirmed despite their 2-1 loss at the Wand Metropolitan stadium to Atletico Madrid.

Goals from Antoine Griezmann and Nahuel Molina in each half secured the win despite Alex Sorloth’s consolation. Sociedad’s top-four place was confirmed by Villarreal’s 2-1 loss at Rayo Vallecano.

The win gives Rayo a slim chance at making the final European spot with a point away from seventh, where Osasuna sits with 50 points with a round of games left. The yellow submarines, on the other hand, are assured of a Europa League spot.

Meanwhile, Espanyol has been relegated after a 2-1 draw with Valencia, the Bats needed a draw to be safe from the drop, but it was a big consequence for Espanyol, who joined Elche.

Real Valladolid currently occupies the final drop zone, but other teams from the 13th position to the 18th are not safe as they are separated by just two points.

The final match day of the 2022/23 season will come up on June 4, with just the final drop zone and last European spot available to fight off and fight for, respectively.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu