The 2025/26 La Liga season came to a close with a spectacular finale. It wasn’t just in Madrid that emotions ran high.
The title race had been decided nearly two weeks earlier, with FC Barcelona pulling far ahead of the domestic competition and clinching the crown in the Clásico against Real Madrid (2-0). The chance to reach the 100-point mark—a new goal set by Hansi Flick before his contract extension—had already vanished due to the loss to Alavés. And the 32nd win didn’t materialize either—Valencia outplayed the champions 3-1 in their own stadium despite falling behind.
Alongside Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Villarreal, and Real Betis will also compete in the Champions League next season from La Liga. For the Royals, who went without a title for the second consecutive season, Saturday night saw emotional farewells to captain Dani Carvajal and David Alaba. In the 4-2 win over Bilbao, Kylian Mbappé—who had recently been booed by the fans—also scored, defending his Pichichi trophy—Spain’s top scorer award—with his 25th goal.
Celta Vigo secured its Europa League spot with a 1-0 home win against Sevilla FC. A second starter is Real Sociedad (tenth in the league), because coach Pellegrino Matarazzo not only completely turned the Basques around but also led them to Copa del Rey glory in a dramatic final against Atlético Madrid.
Will Rayo join the Europa League?
There could even be a third Europa League starter if Rayo Vallecano wins the Conference League final in Leipzig next Wednesday against the favored Premier League side Crystal Palace, coached by Oliver Glasner.
FC Getafe will represent La Liga in that third-most-important club competition. The underdogs from the Madrid suburbs (goal difference of -6) beat CA Osasuna 1-0 in the season finale.
The bottom of the table was a nail-biter. As many as nine (!) teams were still in danger of relegation on the very last matchday. All eyes were on the direct showdown between 18th-place Girona (40 points) and 17th-place Elche (42). In the end, Girona could not manage more than a 1-1 draw after falling behind and were relegated, just like RCD Mallorca (42) and Real Oviedo (29).
The Mallorcans had held out hope until the very end, but even a 3-0 win in their final match against Oviedo—in which Mbappé rival Vedat Muriqi scored his 23rd goal—wasn’t enough in the end. Levante and Osasuna, who also finished with 42 points, celebrated their survival. With Elche and Levante, two of the three promoted teams managed to stay up.
