MADRID (AFP)
Champions Real Madrid beat Mallorca 4-1 on Sunday to break the
100-point barrier on the final day of La Liga season as
Villarreal sensationally slipped through the relegation trapdoor.
Mesut Ozil scored twice while Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema
also hit the target as Jose Mourinho's Real smashed Barcelona's
previous record of 99 points from the 2009-10 season.
The Santiago Bernabeu was given the first chance to celebrate
Mourinho's first Spanish title with 'los blancos' and resonated
with a celebratory atmosphere to see skipper Iker Casillas lift
the trophy after the match.
Mallorca needed a win to qualify for next season's Europa League
and battled hard against a Real side who claimed their 32nd
Spanish title two games ago.
Ronaldo headed home an 18th-minute opener and two minutes later
Benzema finished off a swift passing move after receiving a
Ronaldo pass to double the lead.
Ozil produced a delightful chip for the third on 50 minutes
before Chori Castro pulled one back for the side from the
Balearics.
German international Ozil added his second when he guided home a
long cross from Marcelo eight minutes later.
Jose Rondon scored the goal that beat Sporting Gijon 1-0 and
guarantee Malaga their first ever qualification for the Champions
League.
Defeat for Sporting means they drop into the second division
after four successive seasons in the top flight.
The Andalusian side started the stronger and Juan Pablo in the
visitors' goal had to make an acrobatic save from Eliseu on 17
minutes.
Then Rondon hit the post with a powerful header and with the game
goalless at the interval Malaga's dream was on hold.
However, it was Rondon who headed home a corner on 49 minutes to
ease the nerves and send the packed Rosaleda crowd into
celebration.
Algerian striker Abdelkader Ghezzal scored twice to help Levante
to a 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao and reward their magnificant
season with a Europa League place.
He raced onto a long ball from centre-half Gustavo Cabral to lob
over the advancing Bilbao goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz on the stroke
of half-time for his first.
Jose Barkero supplied him for the second and Francisco Farinos
got a last minute penalty to send Levante into European
competition for the first time.
At the bottom, Villarreal were relegated along with Sporting in a
dramatic 90 minutes in which any two of five teams were facing
the drop.
Villarreal lost 1-0 at home to Atletico Madrid for whom Gustavo
Falcao scored with two minutes remaining to condemn last season's
Europa League semi-finalists to the second-tier for the first
time since 1998-99.
Marco Ruben and Marcos Senna went close from distance in a
first-half in which the team battling relegation were the
stronger.
All seemed under control until Falcao headed home and almost
immediately a goal from Raul Tamudo for Rayo Vallecano at home to
Granada turned things around completely.
Until that stage, Rayo Vallecano were in the relegation zone and
60 seconds from the drop.
Veteran striker Tamudo came off the bench to prod home a header
from close range to send Villarreal to the second division and
save the tiny club from the south of Madrid.
Antonio Galdeano 'Apono' and Hector Postiga gave Zaragoza the 2-0
win they needed at eight-man Getafe and finish a miraculous end
of season in which they won eight out of the last 11 games to
guarantee safety.
The home side had Pablo Sarabia sent-off for two yellow cards
within seconds for protesting on 25 minutes.
Zaragoza also had cause to complain when the referee denied them
a penalty when it seemed Postiga had been wrestled to the ground
just before the interval.
On 56 minutes, Miguel Torres was also sent-off for a handball in
the area and Apono hit home from the spot.
Zaragoza lost a man late on when substitute Tomislav Dujmovic was
dismissed before Miku left the home side with eight players and
Postiga scored a last minute second to seal their survival.
