Alexander Sørloth struck four times in 17 minutes to help Villarreal fight back and snatch a 4-4 home draw against champions Real Madrid and take himself top of La Liga’s scoring charts.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side, crowned champions a fortnight ago, could have reached 99 points for the season, one shy of their 2011-12 record but will now fall short, as they sit on 94 before their final league game against Real Betis.
“The target was not the points because we don’t need them, the target was to play a good game with rhythm, intensity, avoiding injuries. Everything went perfectly,” said Ancelotti, whose side face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final on 1 June. “I’m not worried ahead of the Champions League final, this was an open game. Maybe we conceded more goals than necessary but that’s OK, it doesn’t change anything about what the final has to be. In attack we played well.”
Real opened the scoring in the 14th minute when the Turkish youngster Arda Guler slotted home a low strike off a Brahim Díaz pass before Joselu doubled the lead with a close-range header on the half-hour mark.
Sørloth pulled one back for Villarreal with a towering header in the 39th minute, but Lucas Vázquez restored Real’s two-goal advantage only a minute later before Guler made it 4-1 in the final seconds of the first half. But the hosts rallied after the break, with Sørloth scoring three goals in eight minutes, between the 48th and 56th, as he reached 23 league goals this season.
Despite salvaging a point, Villarreal will miss out on European football as they sit eighth on 52 points, four adrift of Betis in the Europa Conference League spot. “It was a match with a lot of goals, the kind that the fans like. I’ll take the reaction in the second half. We will try to go to Europe next year,” said the Villarreal forward Gerard Moreno, who provided three assists. “I hope Sørloth ends up top scorer. He’s a fantastic teammate. He deserves it. We’re going to try to help him. He’s had an incredible season.”
Barcelona beat Rayo Vallecano 3-0 in their final home game of the season to secure second place in La Liga thanks to an early goal from Robert Lewandowski and a quick-fire double from Pedri. Barcelona took the lead in the third minute when Lamine Yamal cut in from the right wing and chipped the ball to Lewandowski, who expertly controlled the pass with his chest and volleyed home.
Although Rayo had their chances to level, Barcelona doubled their lead with some magical footwork from João Félix who saw his shot saved but Pedri managed to score from the rebound to give the home side a two-goal cushion. Barely three minutes later, Pedri spotted a gap in Rayo’s high defensive line and he was put through on goal with a long ball from centre back Ronald Araujo, allowing the 21-year-old to fire home and double his goal tally for the season.
The result moved Barcelona to 82 points, four points above Girona, who won 3-1 at Valencia.
Raúl García scored in each half as Osasuna secured their first win at Atlético Madrid since 2009, beating the hosts 4-1 and handing them their second home loss of the league campaign. The visitors scored in the 26th minute when Alejandro Catena headed it down inside the box for García to score. Osasuna doubled their lead in the 52nd minute with a block by Atlético keeper, Jan Oblak, falling to the substitute Aimar Oroz for a close-range finish.
Atlético struck back three minutes later with Álvaro Morata scoring from Ángel Correa’s cross. But García restored Osasuna’s two-goal cushion in the 64th minute, before Lucas Torró sealed the victory, hammering home with his right foot in the 88th.
Elsewhere, Real Sociedad clinched the last Europa League spot with a 2-0 win at Betis, while Cádiz will be relegated after a goalless draw with Las Palmas ensured they will join Granada and Almería in dropping to the second tier.
Arne Slot took charge of his last Feyenoord match before taking over at Liverpool and he was greeted with banners emblazoned with “walk on, walk on”, a line from the anthem shared by both his old and new team’s fans.
The Dutch club said goodbye to their coach on Sunday with an empathic 4-0 win in the home derby against Excelsior, two days after Slot confirmed that would be the next manager at Anfield. Supporters chanted Slot’s name for most of the match in a poignant farewell as Feyenoord finished second to PSV Eindhoven in the league standings.
The 45-year-old Slot had steered Feyenoord to only a second championship in 23 years when they won the title at the end of the 2022-23 season. They had no answer in this campaign to PSV, who lost only one of their 34 games and finished seven points ahead of second-placed Feyenoord.
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“I am extremely grateful for the memories I have made at this great club,” Slot told supporters after the match at De Kuip. “I owe the most thanks to the players who have always given everything for the club.”
He also thanked the Feyenoord fans, whose “huge support” he said he felt from his first day at the club. Slot, who won the Dutch Cup with Feyenoord this year, was coach of the Rotterdam team for three seasons.
“The level of appreciation that I have achieved here because of the performances … if that can ever be surpassed, I am really very privileged,” he added.
A late header from Denzel Dumfries earned Serie A champions Internazionale a 1-1 home draw against Lazio after Daichi Kamada gave the visitors a first-half lead.
Kamada broke the deadlock for the visitors in the 32nd minute with a well-placed low shot into the corner from just outside the box, after both sides had several chances. Both teams continued to attack after the break, with Dumfries beating his marker at the far post to head in the equaliser from a free kick in the 87th minute.
Paolo Montero will take charge of Juventus for the remainder of the season, the club said on Sunday, following the dismissal of Massimiliano Allegri.
Juventus sacked Allegri on Friday over his behaviour during and after this week’s Coppa Italia final in which he was sent off. Montero, who coaches Juventus Under-19s, will manage their remaining two matches, at Bologna on Monday and against Monza at home next Sunday. The 52-year-old Uruguayan won four Serie A titles playing for Juventus as a defender from 1996 to 2005.
“Paolo is a Juventus legend, firstly on the pitch, and someone who has long been a bearer of the Club’s DNA on the bench,” the club said in a statement. “Best of luck, Paolo!”
Source: theguardian.com
