BARCELONA, Spain — With the La Liga title secured by Barcelona and Champions League places settled, the remaining excitement lies entirely in a crowded scramble to avoid the drop. One team is already doomed. Everyone else in the bottom half is, remarkably, not yet safe.
The numbers don't lie
Two clubs will join Real Oviedo in the second division. That's the cold math facing the bottom half of the 20-team league with just two matchdays remaining. Across those final six points of the season, only five points separate Rayo Vallecano in 10th place from Mallorca and Levante in 18th and 19th. The margin for error is essentially nonexistent.
Sunday's defining matches
Round 37 matches will kick off simultaneously on Sunday, placing the relegation picture in a rare freeze-frame of uncertainty.
The most immediate stakes sit in Levante versus Mallorca. A win for either side would quite possibly lift the victor out of the drop zone. A loss keeps the loser swimming in dangerous water before next weekend's final round.
Elche sits level on points with both Mallorca and Levante and hosts Getafe, which has already ensured its top-flight status. Meanwhile, Alaves sits in 16th place — one point above the relegation line — and travels to face relegated Oviedo. Girona, also one point clear of the drop, makes the trip to Atletico Madrid.
Further up, Osasuna in 13th and Espanyol in 14th meet in Pamplona. Both hold a three-point buffer over the danger zone. Sevilla, in 12th but still only four points from the drop, plays host to Real Madrid. Valencia, sitting 11th and level with Sevilla, travels to Real Sociedad. Rayo Vallecano, the highest-placed club still technically at risk, hosts Villarreal.
Individual storylines
Mallorca striker Vedat Muriqi has amassed 22 goals this season — just two fewer than Kylian Mbappé's tally. That personal production has still not been enough to pull his club clear of the table's basement region. Coach Martín Demichelis will again rely on his leading scorer to change that equation against Levante.
Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid's all-time leading goal scorer, plays his final home match at the club before joining Or lando City in Major League Soccer next season. It is also Robert Lewandowski's farewell appearance at Camp Nou — Barcelona confirmed the 37-year-old striker departs after four season s.
Injuries continue affecting the title-holders: Lamine Yamal is finished for the season, while Madrid will be with out Rodrygo, Éder Militão and Arda Guler for the remainder.