Granada to D2, Villarreal tames Barça and heads for Europe

Thanks to a final prestigious success at Camp Nou 2-0 against FC Barcelona, ​​Villarreal validated Sunday evening during the 38th and last day of La Liga its ticket for the Europa League Conference, while Granada, hung 0-0 by the ‘Espanyol Barcelona is relegated to the second division.

The “Yellow Submarine”, semi-finalist of the Champions League this season (defeated by Liverpool), will still play on the continental scene next season: Unai Emery’s men opened the scoring just before the break on a bright opening from Dani Parejo for Alfonso Pedraza (41st), then doubled the bet on a big error in recovery from Adama Traoré, who offered a ready-made goal to Moi Gomez (55th).

For Barça, this latest home setback seals a rocky season, between catastrophic beginnings under Ronald Koeman, the beginning of a renaissance with the arrival of Xavi in ​​winter, then the turmoil of spring. It may also be the last time that Camp Nou supporters saw Dani Alvés, Adama Traoré or Ousmane Dembélé play in the Blaugrana jersey: the French winger, at the end of his contract on June 30 and the most burning on the desk of the Catalan leaders, has still not announced anything about his future. PSG have been on it for a long time. “We have no news from Dembélé, as for the past six or seven months“, regretted the sporting director of Barça Mateu Alemany on Movistar+before kick-off.

Atlético, a victory to finish

Conversely, this victory ensures Villarreal 7th place in La Liga, synonymous with a direct place for the play-off to access the Europa League Conference. Because at the same time, Athletic Bilbao, 8th, was dominated by Sevilla FC 1-0 in Andalusia. Inaki Williams was very close to offering some hope to the Basques in the 49th, but his recovery, after a ball pushed back by Marko Dmitrovic, failed on the post. Ditto for Karim Rekik two minutes later, who saw his goal disallowed by the video referee. And it was Rafa Mir, alone, who ended up giving the advantage to Jules Koundé’s teammates, who finished in 4th place in the championship, five points ahead of their neighbors Betis and one point behind Atlético Madrid.

Diego Simeone’s men also ended their season with a solid 2-1 victory on the lawn of Real Sociedad, in a match without any sporting stakes. Rodrigo de Paul was the first to shake the Basque nets in the 51st, with a long shot, then Angel Correa doubled the lead for the Colchoneros in the 69th. And in the 90th + 3, Jon Guridi saved the honor for the Basques, heading in a free kick from Adnan Januzaj repelled by Jan Oblak.

Molina cursed, Granada relegated

Lower in the standings, the unthinkable happened: Granada, who had a point lead over Mallorca and Cadiz before Matchday 1, had only an 11% chance of going down… and yet that’s what that happened to the Andalusians. Hanging 0-0 on their lawn by Espanyol Barcelona at the start of the evening, Maxime Gonalons’ teammates were doubled on the line by Cadiz, winner 1-0 against the red lantern Alavés, and by Mallorca, winner 2-0 at Osasuna thanks to a second goal from former Lyonnais Clément Grenier (83rd). In the 73rd, Aitor Karanka’s men had the ball held between the feet of Jorge Molina, but the veteran center-forward did not target his penalty, precipitating the descent of his team.

Granada, which falls one point behind its two competitors for maintenance, will therefore join Levante and Alavés in the second division next season.