Real Madrid end troubled Liga season with win, Mallorca, Girona down
BARCELONA: Real Madrid ended a troubled La Liga campaign with a 4-2 win over Athletic Bilbao in Alvaro Arbeloa’s last game at the helm, while Mallorca and Girona were relegated from the Spanish top flight on Saturday. In the final round of fixtures, Mallorca defeated already-relegated Real Oviedo 3-0 to reach 42 points, but it was not enough to survive. Girona were held to a 1-1 draw by Elche, which kept the visitors up and sent the Catalan side down, just one season after they played in the Champions League. Veteran Polish striker Robert Lewandowski scored for champions Barcelona in his final match for the club, but goals from Javi Guerra, Luis Rioja and Guido Rodriguez snatched a 3-1 victory for Valencia. Celta Vigo wrapped up Europa League qualification with a 1-0 win over Sevilla to come sixth, while Getafe secured seventh and a Conference League berth with a 1-0 win over Osasuna. Dani Carvajal, playing his last game for Real Madrid, produced a sensational ball for Gonzalo Garcia to fire the second-place hosts ahead against Athletic. England international Jude Bellingham scored a superb second, before Gorka Guruzeta slammed past Thibaut Courtois for Ernesto Valverde’s visitors just before the break in the coach’s last game at the helm. La Liga’s top goalscorer Kylian Mbappe swept home from outside the area for Real’s third, his 25th goal of the season in the top flight.