Girona and Mallorca relegated from La Liga

Girona and Mallorca went down on the final day of the La Liga season, with Saturday’s results confirming them as the last two teams relegated alongside Real Oviedo. Girona drew 1-1 at home to Elche, while Mallorca beat already-relegated Oviedo 3-0, but neither club did enough to stay above the drop line. (beinsports.com) La Liga’s official results page listed the outcomes from Jornada 38 on May 23, with the relegation places settled before the final game of the round on May 24. (laliga.com) Girona’s fall stood out because the club had played in the Champions League a season earlier after finishing third in Spain. Yahoo Sports and The Athletic both noted the speed of that collapse, from a top-three finish and European campaign to relegation one year later. (laliga.com) ### How did Mallorca win and still go down? Mallorca finished Saturday on 42 points after beating Real Oviedo 3-0, but other results left them in the relegation zone anyway. Yahoo Sports reported that Mallorca ended level on points with Osasuna and Levante, yet still dropped, while La Liga’s results page confirmed the score against Oviedo. (laliga.com) Real Oviedo had already been relegated before kickoff, making Mallorca’s task partly dependent on help elsewhere. AP said both Girona and Mallorca needed to win and also needed favorable results from other matches to escape. That combination did not arrive. (sports.yahoo.com) ### Why did Girona’s draw with Elche send them down? Girona needed a win at Montilivi and got only a 1-1 draw against Elche. Yahoo Sports said the Catalan club had to win to stay up, while RTVE described the result as the outcome that completed Girona’s relegation in a tense final round. (sports.yahoo.com) Elche’s point mattered at both ends of the table. Reuters-backed coverage carried by Yahoo Sports said the draw kept Elche in the division, while El País’ live results summary said Elche survived “with much suffering” on the final night. (apnews.com) ### Which three clubs were relegated? Real Oviedo, Girona and Mallorca are the three clubs going down from La Liga. BeIN Sports said Girona and Mallorca were relegated “along with Real Oviedo,” and AP reported the same three-team outcome after the last Saturday matches ended. (sports.yahoo.com) The official La Liga results page showed Mallorca beating Oviedo and Girona drawing Elche, the two scorelines that locked in the bottom of the table. ESPN’s standings page, which had not yet reflected every club on equal games played when crawled, still showed Mallorca and Girona just above the bottom three in an incomplete table, so the match results and direct match reports are the clearer record of the relegation decision on Saturday night. (sports.yahoo.com) ### Why is Girona’s relegation getting so much attention? Girona played in the Champions League this season after qualifying for Europe for the first time in club history in 2024. (beinsports.com) The Athletic said Girona won promotion to La Liga in 2022 and had been one of the league’s surprise stories before this drop, while Yahoo Sports described the relegation as coming a year after their Champions League campaign. City Football Group’s link to Girona has also made the club more visible internationally. The Athletic identified Girona as CFG-owned in its report on the relegation. (laliga.com) ### What else was decided on the final day? Getafe and Celta Vigo secured European places on the same night the relegation fight ended. BeIN Sports said Getafe clinched a European spot, and Yahoo Sports reported that Celta took sixth and the Europa League berth by beating Sevilla 1-0 while Getafe beat Osasuna 1-0 to finish seventh and qualify for the Conference League. (nytimes.com) La Liga’s schedule still lists Villarreal against Atletico Madrid on May 24 as the final remaining Jornada 38 fixture. The relegation picture, however, was settled on May 23 with Girona, Mallorca and Real Oviedo confirmed as the teams leaving the top division. (nytimes.com) (laliga.com) (beinsports.com)