Real Madrid win, Villarreal take big step towards Europe in La Liga

FC Barcelona will be La Liga champions on Sunday night if they win away to local rivals Espanyol although Real Madrid beat Getafe 1-0 on Saturday night.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti rang the changes ahead of his side’s Champions League semifinal return leg away to Manchester City next week, with Thibaut Courtois, Fede Valverde, Eder Militao and Eduardo Camavinga expected to start in the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.

The result was a dull game against the side third from bottom of La Liga, which was decided by a shot from Marco Asensio, who again proved his value. The bad news for Madrid was a possible injury to Camavinga in the closing minutes, which makes him a doubt for next week’s key game, a Xinhua report said.

Real Sociedad and Girona drew 2-2 in a result that helped both sides’ ambitions, as Real Sociedad moved a step forward to finishing fourth, while Girona almost maintained their hopes of playing in Europe next season.

Mikel Oyarzabal put Real Sociedad ahead in the fourth minute and David Silva doubled their lead in the 24th minute, only for Girona to fight back with Yan Couto pulling a goal back in the 37th minute and Cristhian Stauni equalizing in first half injury time.

The second half somehow failed to produce a goal, although Girona ended up with 10 men after Oriol Romeu was sent off in the closing minutes.

Villarreal also moved closer to assuring a place in Europe with a 5-1 win at home to Athletic Bilbao, whose own European options suffered a major setback.

Alex Baena and Nicolas Jackson put Villarreal 2-0 up and although Oihan Sancet pulled a goal back from the penalty spot, Baena and Jackson scored again in the second half, while Aitor Paredes scored an own goal as Villarreal ran riot after the break.

Osasuna got back to winning ways with an impressive 3-1 win over relegation-threatened Almeria thanks to goals from Ante Budimir, Abde Ezzalzouli and Moi Gomez.

Pablo Maffeo’s first half header following a corner gave Mallorca a 1-0 win at home to Cadiz on Friday.

Cadiz missed chances to take at least a point from the game and their suffering on the verge of the bottom three will continue for another week.

-IANS

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