Madrid minnows Getafe earned European football on a dramatic climax to the 2025/26 La Liga campaign, thanks to an edgy 1-0 win over Osasuna. They had been in European contention for much of the season but three losses in five games had put their Europa place in doubt, but Getafe held their nerve on the final day to take their deserved prize.
With the top six places and European qualification settled, three clubs, Getafe, Rayo Vallecano and Valencia were all in the hunt for the last guaranteed place in Europe and all three teams won; so let’s take a look at the fight for seventh place and see how the action unfolded on a tense night of Spanish top flight football.
Rayo Vallecano, who have a Europa Conference League final against Crystal Palace to look forward to, took on Deportivo Alaves and it was an unlucky 13th minute for Rayo who went behind when Toni Martinez put Alavez ahead from point blank range. The next goal of the night came in Barcelona where Real Sociedad, not mathematically out of the race but with a tiny chance to sneak into seventh place, went ahead through Orri Oskarsson.
Valencia, who started the evening in ninth place, had the toughest task of all with a clash against Champions Barcelona, and to be fair, at the start of the 2025/26 campaign the La Liga 2026 betting odds didn’t pick out Los Ches as a European hopeful. But a superb run of form gave them a realistic hope on the last weekend, and they threw all they could at the Blaugrana but went into the break at 0-0.
There was a similar story for seventh placed Getafe at home to Osasuna to increase the tension at the compact Estadio Coliseum. But there was a release of energy in the ground early in the second half when Luis Milla took aim from outside the penalty area and his shot flew into the bottom right corner. Meanwhile, over in Barcelona, Roberto Fernandez levelled for Espanyol against Sociedad to end any Basque thoughts of a miracle.
Over in Valencia, a mad ten minutes saw Los Ches lead the Blaugrana 2-1. Robert Lewandowski finished off a fast break to give champions Barca a lead, but Javi Guerra smashed a leveller high into the Barcelona net; and then the Mestalla Stadium exploded when Luis Rioja made it 2-1 to Valencia.
Suddenly the nerves were jangling in Getafe where Osasuna top scorer Ante Budimir, third top scorer in la Liga with 17 goals, was on the prowl, and when Sergo Camello equalised for Rayo Vallecano in Alaves there was all to play for. And then Camello teed up Randy Nketa who slotted his shot onto the bottom corner to make it 2-1 to Vallecano.
The final whistles went in Alaves and in Valencia, where Guido Rodriguez made it 3-1 to Los Ches deep into injury time and the Getafe fans knew they needed to hang on. And when Osasuna’s Valentin Rosier pinged in a cross to be met by Raul Garcia their hearts were in their mouths, but Getafe keeper David Soria flung himself across the goal to save in the top left corner.
Relegation gloom for Girona and Mallorca
In other La Liga 2026 news, bottom club Real Oviedo were joined by Girona and Real Mallorca who dropped through the trapdoor to the Segunda Division.
Girona at home to Elche was a relegation six pointer and the two teams traded blows either side of half time. Elche went ahead on 39 minutes when a cross swung over the be met by Pedro Bigas who headed down for Alvaro Rodrigues to fire his shot into the roof of the net. And four minutes into the second half Arnau Martinez levelled for Girona with a clinical finish. But the hosts needed a win, and it didn’t come so they are relegated, along with Mallorca despite their final day 3-0 victory over Oviedo.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid finished off a sorry campaign with a 4-2 win over Athletic Bilbao, another club which will be happy to see the end to the 2025/26 season, with league top scorer Kylian Mbappe on the score sheet. Fifth placed Real Betis and sixth placed Celta Vigo both finished with a win and Villarreal and Atletico Madrid will fight it out for third place on Sunday.
So that’s all folks. The La Liga season is pretty much done and dusted. Congratulations to champions Barcelona, commiserations to the relegated threesome and well done to Europa entrants Getafe.
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