MADRID, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The penultimate round of matches in La Liga ended on Sunday with all the top-four places confirmed along with who will play in Europe and which sides are relegated to the second division.
Cadiz's 0-0 draw at home to Las Palmas, coupled with Mallorca's 2-2 draw at home to Almeria, means Cadiz join Almeria and Granada in the second division next season.
A win would have left the side from the south-west of Spain with a chance of survival, but they were unable to find a way through and Victor Chust's red card with 15 minutes to play ended their hopes.
Cadiz would have had a slight survival chance if Mallorca had lost to Almeria and for a while that looked very possible.
Kyle Larin looked to have set Mallorca on their way to survival with a 29th minute goal, but efforts from Sergio Arribas and Bruno Langa had alarm bells ringing for the home side until Sergi Darder saved the day with an 83rd minute effort, that leaves Mallorca four points clear of Cadiz with just one game left to play.
Celta Vigo won 2-1 away to Granada to seal their survival with goals from Jorgen Strand Larsen and Jonathan Bamba after 61 and 53 minutes, before Bruno Mendez scored in the closing minutes for another side that returns to the second tier.
Villarreal striker Alexander Sorloth scored four goals against Real Madrid in an entertaining 4-4 draw which saw the home side fight back from 4-1 down at halftime after Arda Guler, scored twice, along with Joselu and Lucas Vazquez to give Madrid a seemingly comfortable lead.
Sorloth netted in the 39th minute for Villarreal and then hit three goals in eight second half minutes to overtake Girona's Artem Dovbyk in the race to be La Liga's top-scorer.
The Norwegian now has 23 league goals, while Dovbyk has 21 after scoring one of Girona's goals in their 3-1 win away to Valencia. Savio and an own goal helped Girona assure they finish their season in third place, although they can't overtake second place FC Barcelona after Barca's 3-0 win at home to Rayo Vallecano.
Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring in the third minute, and two goals from second-half substitute Pedri sealed a win. The match took place in front of fans who showed a division of opinion over the possible departure of coach Xavi Hernandez, with some chanting his name and others booing calls for President Joan Laporta to resign.
Real Sociedad finished sixth and will play in next season's Europa League after a 2-0 win away to Betis, thanks to first-half goals from Brais Mendez and Mikel Merino. The defeat means Betis, who missed a second-half penalty, has to settle for seventh place and a qualifying round to play in the Conference League.
Raul Garcia and Iker Muniain had fairytale send-offs as they both scored in their last home game for Athletic Club Bilbao, as Athletic sealed fifth place with a 2-0 win at home to Sevilla.
Garcia (who retires at the end of the season) opened the scoring with a 17th minute header and two minutes later Muniain stabbed home an assist from Nico Williams.
A good day in the San Mames Stadium ended with the news that veteran right back Oscar de Marcos has signed a one-year contract extension and he replaces Muniain as club captain.
Osasuna stunned Atletico Madrid with a 4-1 win in the Metropolitano Stadium with two goals from their striker (also called Raul Garcia) and other goals from Aimar Oroz and Lucas Torro.
In Saturday's only game, Alaves beat Getafe 1-0 to end a successful return to La Liga in a comfortable 10th place. ■
