A Career Built on Details
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — With the La Liga title clinched by Barcelona and Champions League berths decided, the remaining drama centers on a multi-team fight to avoid relegation. Last-placed Real Oviedo is already doomed, but no other team in the bottom half of the 20-team league is mathematically saved with two rounds remaining.
Six points separate Rayo Vallecano in 10th place from Mallorca and Levante in 18th and 19th positions. Two additional teams will join Oviedo in descent. All Round 37 matches will be played simultaneously on Sunday.
The matchup already has enough history; the job is to keep the reading list shorter than the tension.
Mallorca's visit to Levante represents the day's biggest survival contest. A victory would lift the winner out of the drop zone, while defeat would leave the loser in danger before the final round. Elche sits level on points with both clubs and hosts an already saved Getafe.
The Record He Leaves
Alaves, in 16th place and just one point above the relegation line, visits the relegated Oviedo. Girona, also one point clear of the drop, travels to Atletico Madrid. Osasuna and Espanyol, positioned 13th and 14th, clash in Pamplona with both merely three points above the danger zone.
Sevilla, sitting 12th but still only four points from the drop, hosts Real Madrid. Valencia, in 11th, is level on points with Sevilla before visiting Real Sociedad. Rayo hosts Villarreal.
Mallorca striker Vedat Muriqi has scored 22 goals this season, just two fewer than Madrid's Kylian Mbappé, yet that production has not been sufficient to lift his team clear of the table's bottom reaches. Coach Martín Demichelis will again depend on his striker to lead the attack against Levante.
The Part People Remember
Antoine Griezmann, Atletico's all-time leading scorer, will play his final home game before joining Orlando City in Major League Soccer next season. It will also be Robert Lewandowski's last game at Camp Nou when Barcelona hosts Real Betis.
The club announced the 37-year-old striker is departing after four seasons. Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal is out for the remainder of the season, as are Madrid players Rodrygo, Éder Militão and Arda Guler.