Villarreal's players secured a place in the Champions League for next season, after they defeated Barcelona 3:2 away tonight, in the penultimate, 37th round of La Liga, and thus gained an unattainable points advantage over sixth-placed Betis in the Spanish championship table.
Villarreal took the lead with a goal from Ayoze Perez in the fourth minute, while Barcelona equalized with a goal from Lamine Jamal in the 38th minute.
Fermin Lopes gave Barcelona the lead with a goal in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time, while Santi Comesan equalized for Villarreal in the 51st minute.
The winning goal for Villarreal was scored by Tejon Buchanan in the 80th minute.
Villarreal will thus end the season in fifth place in the La Liga table, the lowest position that qualifies for the Champions League, where they currently have 67 points, eight more than Betis, who lost 4-1 away to Atletico Madrid tonight.
Betis needed a win in this duel and a loss or draw for Villarreal in their match to keep their chances of qualifying for the Champions League, but both conditions were not met.
Betis will finish the season in sixth place and will play in the Europa League next season, while along with Villarreal, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and this season's La Liga champion Barcelona will also play in the Champions League.
The battle for seventh place, which also carries a place in the Europa League, continues. Rayo Vallecano beat seventh-placed Celta 2-1, moving within a point of Osasuna, who beat Espanyol 2-0 tonight.
The eighth-placed team will play in the Conference League qualifiers next season, a position currently held by Rayo Vallecano.
As for the fight for survival, Leganes retained their chance to play in La Liga next season, after beating Las Palmas 1-0, thus coming within two points of Espanyol, who occupy the lowest position outside the relegation zone.
Las Palmas and Valladolid have already been relegated from La Liga.
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