LaLiga: Atletico close to top-four, Betis go sixth, Cadiz struggling
Madrid: Atletico Madrid are one win away from assuring a place in next season’s Champions League after beating Celta Vigo 1-0 at home.
Rodrigo de Paul scored a searing volley in the 84th minute to give Atletico three points and leave them eight above fifth-place Athletic Club Bilbao with just three games left in the season.
Atletico had better chances against Celta, who still have work to do to ensure their top-flight survival after Cadiz kept their survival hopes intact with a 1-0 win at home to Getafe earlier in the day, reports Xinhua.
Ruben Alcaraz kept his nerve to score the only goal of the game, a 34th-minute penalty. This gave Cadiz three points, leaving them five behind Celta and six behind Rayo Vallecano, who drew 0-0 away to Valencia.
Rayo deserved the win after outplaying their rivals but were denied a win by a series of outstanding saves from Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili on his return to the side after suspension.
Betis moved into sixth place on Sunday, ahead of Real Sociedad, who have to visit Barcelona on Monday night.
Pablo Fornals, Isco put Betis 2-0 ahead at home to Almeria, but Leo Baptistao gave their already-relegated rivals hope before halftime. Ayoze Perez made it 3-1 with 27 minutes to go, but Almeria quickly pulled another goal back thanks to Luka Romero just two minutes later.
Real Madrid ended a perfect week on Saturday when they won 4-0 away to Granada, who are relegated to the Spanish second division.
Carlo Ancelotti made plenty of changes to the side that beat Bayern Munich on Wednesday, but they had few problems against a team whose relegation was assured before kickoff after Mallorca win at home to Las Palmas.
Left-back Fran Garcia opened the scoring after a pass from youngster Arda Guler and then gave Guler an assist in making it 2-0 before two goals from Brahim Diaz in the first 15 minutes of the second half confirmed an easy win.
Giovanni Gonzalez’s scrappy 29th-minute effort gave Mallorca a win that relegated Granada in Saturday’s early kickoff and keeps them six points clear of Cadiz.
Alaves midfielder Jon Guridi scored twice as his side twice came back against Girona, who had taken the lead through Eric Garcia’s head and Yangel Herrera’s low shot.
Guridi scored his second goal in the 99th minute, which means Barcelona will go second above Girona if they beat Real Sociedad on Monday night.
Athletic Club Bilbao and Osasuna drew an entertaining match 2-2, with Athletic fighting back from 2-0 down to take a point.
Raul Garcia put Osasuna ahead in the 40th minute, and Ruben Garcia doubled their lead early on the break before Inaki Williams’s 100th goal for the club got Athletic back into the game, and Asier Villalibre poked home in the 96th minute after an error from visiting goalkeeper Sergio Herrera.
Alexander Sorloth scored his 18th and 19th goals of the season as Villarreal beat Sevilla 3-2, with the Norwegian heading the winner with virtually the game’s last action.
Sevilla had led twice after Youssef En-Nesyri scored a 25th-minute penalty and then added a second in the 43rd minute after Sorloth’s first of the game had leveled the score.
Yerson Mosquera made it 2-2 with only seven minutes left to play, and Villarreal also had a goal ruled out for offside moments before Sorloth’s winner.
