Celta, Rayo Seal European Spots As Leganés Relegated

Celta Vigo and Rayo Vallecano secured European football next season as Leganés were relegated from LaLiga on Saturday despite ending the campaign with a 3-0 win against Real Valladolid.

Veteran striker Iago Aspas struck a late winner as Celta beat Getafe 2-1 to finish seventh and book their place in the Europa League after an eight-year absence from continental competitions.

Celta join Real Betis as the Spanish representatives in the Europe League, with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Athletic Club and Villarreal all qualifying for the Champions League.

Meanwhile, Rayo Vallecano clinched European football for just the second time in the club’s history, and the first time since 2000-01, as they drew 0-0 with Mallorca to finish eighth, earning them a spot in the Europa Conference League.

The Celta and Rayo results meant Osasuna, who drew 1-1 at Alavés, missed out on the European places on the final weekend of the season.

At the bottom, Leganés dropped into the second division despite recording an easy victory against already relegated Valladolid.

Leganés needed to win and hope that Espanyol dropped points against Las Palmas, the third side relegated from LaLiga, at the RCDE Stadium.

Espanyol struggled to break Las Palmas down, giving Leganés hope, but eventually broke through, with second-half goals from Javi Puado and Pere Milla earning a 2-0 win which kept the Barcelona-based side in the top flight and provoked a pitch invasion at the final whistle.

Further down the leagues, Barcelona’s reserve team almost pulled off a great escape before finally being relegated to the fourth tier of football for the first time since Pep Guardiola was in charge in 2007-08.

Barça Atlétic needed to beat Unionistas and hope that the three teams immediately above them lost and when Diego Percan gave them a 2-1 lead in the 89th minute, it looked like they would survive.

At that point, all three teams above them were losing, but Osasuna B equalised in their match in the 95th minute, condemning Barça’s B team to a place in the regionalised fourth division of Spanish football.

Espn.co.uk