Coming fixtures
Second division Day 39 (remaining games) 16 May
Champions League final Bayern Munich v Chelsea 19 May
Cope del Rey final Athletic Bilbao v Barcelona 25 May
Euro 2012 warm up match Spain v Serbia (in Switzerland) 26 May


Second division match round-up, day 39

Advance report. Tuesday night's second division game between Guadalajara and Celta was suspended with ten minutes to go due to floodlight failure. Celta were winning 0-3 at the time. It has yet to be decided whether the result will stand as is, or whether the last few minutes will be played out at a later date. (15.05.12)


First division match round-up, day 38

Advance report. An exciting end to the season, with surprises right up to the last minute. The biggest shock of all though was the relegation of Villarreal, who lost 0-1 to Atlético Madrid thanks to a goal by Falcao with just two minutes left on the clock. The day started with Zaragoza down in the bottom three, but early in the second half of their game at Getafe Apoño converted a penalty with their hosts down to nine men, and a late strike from Postiga made it 0-2 in the end. Apoño's goal meant that Rayo Vallecano were then in the drop zone, but with their match against Granada in the last minute of ordinary time Tamudo headed past Julio César to give them a 1-0 victory. If Villarreal could have saved a point then Granada would have gone down instead, but it was not to be, and to add to their woes their B team will be automatically relegated from the second division as a result. Sporting Gijón also go down after a 1-0 defeat at Málaga, Rondón heading the only goal to ensure the Andalusians a first ever place in the Champions League.

Meanwhile Levante beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to take them back up to the Europa League spots, where they will be joined by Atlético Madrid after their victory against Villarreal. It was a great achievement by Juan Ignacio Martínez's side, who have the smallest budget in the first division, and this will be their first ever appearance in a European competition (Athletic of course will also return to the competition by virtue of reaching the Copa del Rey final, as their opponents Barcelona have qualified for the Champions League). That left no place though for Osasuna despite a 2-4 victory at the already relegated Racing Santander, and Mallorca also lose out on the top six after a 4-1 defeat at Real Madrid, the win taking Mourinho's side on to an all time record 100 points. Espanyol and Sevilla were out of the running for the European places after last weekend's games, and they played out a 1-1 draw in their last fixture of the season. (13.05.12)

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Second division

Second division B play-offs


Europa League, final

Atlético Madrid 3 - Athletic Bilbao 0

Atlético Madrid are the Europa League champions for the second time in three years after they beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in the all Spanish final in Bucharest! Simeone's side got the better of their opponents early on, Adrián heading wide before Falcao picked up the ball on the right of the area and made himself space to curl a shot inside Iraizoz's far post. Llorente went close a couple of times and Muniain brought a good save out of Courtois, but with ten minutes to go to the break Falcao got his second of the evening, picking up Turan's cross and leaving Aurtenetxe for dead with a quick change of direction before shooting wide of the keeper once again. After the restart Athletic tried their best, Courtois saving again from Ibai Gómez and Llorente, Toquero and Susaeta all having efforts blocked. But Falcao was inches away from completing a hat-trick when he got free only to hit the post, and with five minutes to go Diego ran through to add a third with an angled shot past Iraizoz. A great disappointment for the Basque side after eliminating the likes of Manchester United and Schalke, but experience came through in the end, and Falcao in particular took the credits after finishing top scorer in the competition for the second season in a row. (09.05.12)


Find all the latest EURO 2012 odds here.


Second division postponed game. Cartagena 1 - Celta 1.

First division match round-up, day 37

What a night of football! With fortunes interlinked, all ten games were obliged to kick off at the same time, and all had at least something at stake. Only one issue was decided in the end though, with Valencia tying up third spot after a last minute 1-0 win over neighbours Villarreal. This was Unai Emery's final home game in charge before his contract expires in the summer, and fans gave him a rousing send off. But although they dominated for much of the match they could not find a way past the excellent Diego López, who kept out an angled shot from Piatti and a wide Tino Costa free kick before the break. The visitors desperately needed to points to stay away from the drop zone, but they only managed a couple of long shots from Wakaso and Bruno before the interval and Borja Valero after. Diego López was in action again in the second half to save from Aduríz a couple of times and from Piatti, and Pablo Hernández fired a shot against the upright. But with a goal-less draw on the cards Aduríz headed a long free kick in to the area for Jonas to hold off his marker and score. The Ches had tied up that vital third place which gives automatic passage to the league stage of the Champions League, but Villarreal came away with nothing, and they ended the weekend just a point above the drop zone. (05.05.12)

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First division match round-up, day 20 (recheduled matches)

Real Madrid are the new league champions after they beat Athletic Bilbao 0-3 on Wednesday night! Barcelona had prolonged the wait after they won their game earlier in the evening, but with only ten minutes gone Mourinho's side were awarded a penalty after Javi Martínez blocked a Ramos header with his upraised arms. And although Iraizoz deflected Cristiano Ronaldo's tame spot kick over the bar, Higuaín opened the scoring a few minutes later after picking up a pass from Özil and turning his marker before firing a long shot past the keeper. Athletic felt themselves hard done by when referee José Antonio Teixeira Vitienes turned down a penalty appeal when the ball hit Khedira's outstretched arm, and soon afterwards Özil got on the end of Ronaldo's cross to make it two. Later in the first half Casillas had to be at his best to fist out an Ibai Gómez free kick, San José's follow up shot taking a deflection off Higuaín on to the crossbar, and Özil fired a shot against the bar at the other end in reply. Ronaldo's frustrations were eased when he headed Madrid's third from Özil's corner five minutes after the restart, although Iraizoz was to deny him again near the end, and with Messi scoring a hat-trick he is now two behind his rival for the top goalscorers prize. Casillas was called upon again to tip an effort from De Marcos on to the bar once again, but any hopes that Bielsa's side had of a comeback ended when Javi Martínez was shown a rigorous second yellow card with twenty minutes to go. Athletic's remote hope of a Champions League spot has now gone, and they will be concentrating now on their two cup finals. Tonight was Madrid's night though, and after three years of finishing second, the celebrations will go on longer than ever. (02.05.12)

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  Borja Pantzov and his side-kick Goran Arsic are back! You can follow their latest adventures in Borja's Blog. Borja's Blog

First Division
Getafe 0-2 Zaragoza
Levante 3-0 Athletic
R Madrid 4-1 Mallorca
Rayo 1-0 Granada
Espanyol 1-1 Sevilla
Betis 2-2 Barcelona
Málaga 1-0 Sporting
Villarreal 0-1 Atlético
Real Soc 1-0 Valencia
Racing 2-4 Osasuna
Day 38 - May 13

Zaragoza 2-1 Racing
Athletic 0-0 Getafe
Mallorca 1-0 Levante
Granada 1-2 R Madrid
Sevilla 5-2 Rayo
Barcelona 4-0 Espanyol
Sporting 2-1 Betis
Atlético 2-1 Málaga
Valencia 1-0 Villarreal
Osasuna 1-0 Real Soc
Day 37 - May 6


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