Barcelona beats Rayo 3-0, Sorloth scores four past Madrid

MADRID: Barcelona routed Rayo Vallecano 3-0 to secure the lucrative second place in the Spanish league on Sunday, while champion Real Madrid drew 4-4 at Villarreal with Norway striker Alexander Sorloth scoring all four goals for Villarreal.

There won’t be much left to fight for in the final round next weekend as Cadiz became the last team to be relegated after being held to a 0-0 draw at home against Las Palmas. Real Sociedad secured the last Europa League spot with a 2-0 win at Real Betis, which was left with a place in the Europa Conference League.

Pedri scored twice and Robert Lewandowski once for Barcelona, which kept a four-point gap to Catalan rival Girona with a round to go. Girona won 3-1 at Valencia for its first-ever third place finish in the Spanish league. It had already clinched a Champions League place in advance.

Atletico Madrid will finish fourth after a 4-1 loss to midtable Osasuna at its Metropolitano stadium.

Barcelona Second 

Lewandowski scored in the third minute and Pedri added goals in the 72nd and 75th as Barcelona won for the fourth time in five matches to seal second place and a spot in the lucrative Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Madrid and Copa del Rey finalists Mallorca and Athletic Bilbao also will play in the Super Cup next season.

The victory came a day after Xavi denied a slew of reports in Spanish media outlets that Barcelona’s leadership is considering firing the coach for having said that the club’s poor finances will impede it from competing with Madrid.

“The situation hasn’t changed,” Xavi said. “I imagine I’ll speak with the president tomorrow or the next day. We needed the win to secure second place and we did it.”

Some fans chanted in support of Xavi and against Laporta during Sunday’s match.

Rayo is in 16th place.

Sorloth Thrives

Sorloth scored once in the first half and three times in the second to give eighth-place Villarreal a draw against Madrid, which scored all of its goals before halftime.

Arda Guler scored twice and Joselu and Lucas Vázquez added a goal each for Madrid, which played with a mostly reserve squad as it continues to prepare for the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund on June 1 in London.

Madrid had clinched its 36th league title three rounds ago.