The 37th round of the 2024/25 La Liga season delivered some sensational action as Marcelino’s Villarreal qualified for Champions League football with a 3-2 win away to champions Barcelona.
As it turned out, the Yellow Submarine didn’t need to beat the Blaugrana as the only team which could catch them, Real Betis, lost away to Atletico Madrid and Betis are confirmed in the Europa League places. With five Champions League spots guaranteed for La Liga, there was a glut of teams, right down to Real Sociedad in 12th still in with a chance of reaching eighth place and European competition, when this penultimate round of matches kicked off.
But the biggest game of our SBOTOP previews came in Catalonia, where Villarreal’s clash with champions Barcelona was the scene of a title celebration for the Blaugrana in front of their own fans while, for the Yellow Submarine it was a chance to cement their place in the top five. There was a lot more riding on this game for the visitors than their hosts and Marcelino’s side got off to the perfect start when top scorer Ayoze Perez made it 19 for the campaign with a smartly taken fourth minute strike from a Nicolas Pepe assist. Villarreal keeper Luiz Junior knew he had a busy evening coming and he made saves from Fermin Lopez, Robert Lewandowski and Eric Garcia; but there was nothing he could do to keep out yet another special effort from teen sensation Lamine Yamal. That goal was on 38 minutes and there was still time for Barca to go into the break ahead as the excellent Fermin controlled and finished with style.
The Yellow Sub wasn’t sunk and, five minutes after the break Santi Comesana made it 2-2; and it was easy to see that the returned Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen wasn’t happy! He was even less impressed when Tajon Buchanan fired home his first goal for Villarreal on the biggest stage imaginable. But the visitors’ bench was impressed and they celebrated wildly, on 80 minutes and again when the full time whistle sounded 15 minutes later.
Before kick-off in Catalonia, the La Liga 2025 betting odds said the Villarreal fans needn’t worry and, while their team was putting in a sterling performance in Barcelona, the only team they had to be wary of went down in Madrid.
Real Betis, in sixth, were away to Atletico, and they went behind early on to a Julian Alvarez free-kick, smashed into the top corner to make it 16 for the season for the Argentine striker. Centre back Robin le Normand doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time before Pablo Fornals made it 2-1 midway through the second half. But any hope Betis had of staging a comeback were quickly dashed as Alvarez made it 3-1 with his 17th of the campaign and Angel Correa bagged the fourth deep into stoppage time.
It’s Two from Three for Seventh and Eighth
Celta Vigo met Rayo Vallecano, both in the thick of the race for Europa football, and Marcos Alonso gave Celta an early lead from the penalty spot, but goals from Isi Palazon and Jorge de Frutos turned the game on its head before the break. Rayo held on to win 2-1 and they finished the weekend in eighth, the Europa Conference League place, and a point and a place behind Celta Vigo. Osasuna are lurking in ninth place, on the same points and goal difference as Vallecano after beating Espanyol 2-0, but Mallorca, Real Sociedad and Valencia are now out of the running.
Carlos Corberan has worked wonders at the Mestalla Stadium since his arrival as Valencia boss in December and Los Ches still had a chance of making the European places when they kicked off against Athletic Bilbao, who were already happily in the Champions League places. And when Bilbao’s Alex Berenguer hit a screamer into the top right corner, with fewer than 20 minutes remaining, the game was up. Meanwhile Real Sociedad signed off in San Sebastien with a 3-2 win over Girona and they ended the weekend in 11th while Real Mallorca blew their chances of staying in the hunt as they went down 2-1 at home to Getafe.
Leganes relegate Las Palmas
At the bottom end of the table Leganes went ahead in the relegation six-pointer away to Las Palmas, as Dani Raba met a Juan Cruz cross with a well placed header. Former Sheffield United striker Ollie McBurnie should have levelled but he planted his header wide of the post and Leganes held on for a valuable three points, which kept them in the hunt thanks to Osasuna’s win over Espanyol while Las Palmas are joining bottom club Real Valladolid on the way to the Segunda Division.
Leganes are in 18th but have lost just one in six, and next week they host Valladolid; while 17th placed Espanyol, two points ahead, welcome Los Palmas. Both should win but it will be a nail-biting finale.
The final two La Liga 2025 results of the weekend saw Valladolid lose at home to Alaves and there was a stonker of a game in Seville, where runners up Real Madrid scored two late goals to win, courtesy of Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham, but only after Sevilla had gone down to nine men.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
