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On Sunday, the 38th and final round of the Spanish championship ("La Liga") took place. Although the champions were already known earlier, in this round there was a fierce battle for a place in next year's UEFA Cup and to avoid relegation.
Before the round, "Villareal" held the sixth position, but they were beaten 3-0 away by the players of "Valladolid" fighting for survival in the league, a victory that was not enough for them as they will have to fight in the second division of Spain next year. In next year's UEFA Cup, "Sevilla" finished in 11th place, surpassing Madrid's "Atletico" club due to a better goal difference. "Athletic" had already secured the second place in next year's UEFA Cup.
In the top division, Barcelona's "Espanyol" stayed, defeating "Murcia" 2-0 yesterday. This means that next year we will not see "Valladolid" in "La Liga", as well as "Murcia" and "Celta", which finished in fourth place in the previous season.
Madrid's "Real" suffered a devastating defeat in front of their own fans. They were crushed 4-1 by the players of San Sebastiano's "Real Sociedad", who finished in 15th place. This was the fifth consecutive failure for "Real" in the Spanish championship. As a result, they were surpassed, and Deportivo La Coruna pushed them down to fourth place in the table.
Surprising results were also recorded in other matches. "Valencia", who had won the title of champions long ago, lost 1-0 at home to "Albacete" with their team leaders absent.
In another match, the winners of the Spanish King's Cup, the players of "Zaragoza", defeated "Barcelona" 2-1, although the Catalans had scored first.
Final standings
38th round results:
"Valencia" 0 - 1 "Albacete" "Sevilla" 1 - 0 "Osasuna" "Athletic" 3 - 4 "Atletico" "Zaragoza" 2 - 1 "Barcelona" "Racing" 0 - 1 "Deportivo" "Celta" 1 - 2 "Mallorca" "Espanyol" 2 - 0 "Murcia" "Real Madrid" 1 - 4 "Real Sociedad" "Malaga" 2 - 3 "Betis" "Valladolid" 3 - 0 "Villarreal"
Top scorers:
1. Luiz Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 24 2. Cesar Julio Baptista (FC Sevilla) 20 3-5. Miguel Mista (Valencia) 19 3-5. Raul Tamudo (Espanyol) 19 3-5. Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid) 19 6. Ballesta Salva (Malaga) 18 7-8. Samuel Eto'o (Mallorca) 17 7-8. David Villa (Real Zaragoza) 17 9. Gaucho Ronaldinho (Barcelona) 15 10-13. Savo Milosevic (Celta Vigo) 14 10-13. Javier Saviola (Barcelona) 14 10-13. Walter Pandiani (Deportivo La Coruna) 14 10-13. Kahveci Nihat (Real Sociedad) 14
