Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 4-2 on Saturday to close out La Liga on a high, though the season was marked by trophyless disappointment. The win came in Alvaro Arbeloa's final game as coach, but the bigger story belonged to Dani Carvajal, the club's veteran defender playing his last match after 16 years.
Carvajal, 34, set up Madrid's second goal through Gonzalo Garcia before being substituted in the 80th minute. When he left the pitch, both teams formed a guard of honour to honour his departure. Later, he gave an emotional speech at the Santiago Bernabeu, his voice breaking as he thanked the club, president Florentino Perez, his teammates, and the fans. "I am very proud of being a Madridista," he said. "I just hope that when you remember me it is with pride and that I gave everything for this shirt." Carvajal won 27 trophies during his time at the club.
Jude Bellingham scored a superb second goal for Madrid, while Kylian Mbappe, La Liga's top scorer, swept home a third from outside the area for his 25th goal of the season. Brahim Diaz added a fourth late on. Gorka Guruzeta and Urko Izeta scored for Athletic.
The final day brought relegation for two clubs. Mallorca finished on 42 points after beating already-relegated Real Oviedo 3-0, but it was not enough to survive the drop. Girona, who played in the Champions League just a season ago, were held to a 1-1 draw by Elche and went down by a single point. Arnau Martinez levelled for Girona after Alvaro Rodriguez had put Elche ahead, but the draw condemned the Catalan side to the second division.
Levante finished 16th and Osasuna 17th, both on 42 points like Mallorca, but survived on head-to-head records. Girona had scraped survival last season by a single point but could not repeat the feat.
Elsewhere, Robert Lewandowski scored for champions Barcelona in his final match for the club, but Valencia snatched a 3-1 victory with goals from Javi Guerra, Luis Rioja, and Guido Rodriguez. Celta Vigo secured Europa League qualification with a 1-0 win over Sevilla to finish sixth, while Getafe took seventh place and Conference League football with a 1-0 win over Osasuna.
On Sunday, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid battle for third place in the season's final match.
