Valencia escapes relegation; Celta stays in it thanks to victory over Barcelona


Sunday, June 4, 2023 at 11:02 PM• Mart van Mourik • Last update: 23:11

Barcelona failed to win its last LaLiga game of the season. Coach Xavi’s team went down to visit Celta de Vigo (2-1), which assured itself of survival in LaLiga thanks to the victory. At the same time, Valencia also had enough to maintain itself at the highest level in Spain with a 1-1 draw in the duel with Real Betis. The curtain fell for Real Valladolid, which must give priority to Almería, Valencia, Getafe, Cádiz and Celt in the ranking; Espanyol and Elche were already certain of relegation.

Celta de Vigo – Barcelona 2-1
With Frenkie de Jong in the starting line-up, Barcelona thought they would take the lead in the eleventh minute, when Franck Kessié hit goal but saw his goal disallowed for offside. A few minutes before the half-time signal, the opening goal fell on the other side. Haris Seferovic had a through ball on Veiga, who outwitted goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen from within the sixteen-meter area with a diagonal slider: 1-0.

The score was doubled twenty minutes after the break. Veiga dribbled in from the right flank and seemed to want to give a cross to Seferovic, but the ball fell in through the inside of the post, whether consciously or not: 2-0. More than fifteen minutes before the final whistle, Barcelona did come back into the game: Ansu Fati nodded in the 2-1 from a cross from Ousmane Dembélé. In the final phase, the tension increased for Celta, although they held onto the lead until the final whistle.

Real Betis – Valencia 1-1
Prior to the game in Benito Villamarín, Valencia was by no means sure of survival in LaLiga. The situation became more threatening in the first minute of play loose Che, who immediately fell behind: Ayoze Pérez scored the 1-0 on a pass from Juan Miranda. A little later, competitors Almería and Celta de Vigo also took the lead, which led to increasing fears for the relegation zone.

Halfway through the second company, Valencia got some air thanks to Diego López, who scored after a pass from Nico: 1-1. Valencia ended the game with ten men, as Yunus Musah was sent off with a direct red card after a hard tackle. In the end, the team of trainer Rubén Baraja held out. Justin Kluivert started the game as a basic player and was taken aside fifteen minutes before the end.

No. Team m W G v +/- Pnt
1 Barcelona 38 28 4 6 50 88
2 RealMadrid 38 24 6 8 39 78
3 Atletico Madrid 38 23 8 7 37 77
4 real society 38 21 8 9 16 71
5 Villarreal 38 19 7 12 19 64
6 RealBetis 38 17 9 12 5 60
7 Osasuna 38 15 8 15 -5 53
8 Athletic Club 38 14 9 15 4 51
9 Real Majorca 38 14 8 16 -6 50
10 Girona 38 13 10 15 3 49
11 Rayo Vallecano 38 13 10 15 -8 49
12 Seville 38 13 10 15 -7 49
13 Celta de Vigo 38 11 10 17 -10 43
14 Cadiz 38 10 12 16 -23 42
15 Getafe 38 10 12 16 -11 42
16 valencia 38 11 9 18 -3 42
17 Almeria 38 11 8 19 -16 41
18 Real Valladolid 38 11 7 20 -30 40
19 Espanyol 38 8 13 17 -17 37
20 Elche 38 5 10 23 -37 25