Traffic must have been bad because Atlético Madrid didn’t turn up until the second half of their match with Málaga, although the visitors could only manage one, albeit stunning goal from Eliseu in the first period, despite their dominance.
It all turned around in the second half, though, as Atlético gained the upper hand with Koke and Adrian finding the net to clinch victory, 2-1 the final score. The result sees Málaga lose the chance to move up to third place in La Liga, that boat has sailed, and now lifts Atlético to fourth with a chance of fourth place if results go their way on the last day of the season.
Valencia have tied up third place with a 1-0 victory over struggling Villarreal, now just one point above the drop zone, with a last-minute goal by Jonas.
Granada, still not certain of staying up, got off to a great start against champions Real Madrid, scoring in the fourth minute courtesy of Jara, and remained in front until ten minutes from time when Ronaldo converted a penalty to put the scores level.
Well into injury time, David Cortés then turned the ball into his own net while trying to clear a cross and victory went to Real Madrid. To make matters even worse, Granada ended the match with ten men after Moises and Sequeira were ordered from the pitch in the 94th minute.
Four goals from Messi, two from the penalty spot, gave Barcelona a 4-0 win against Espanyol and saw the Argentine striker reach 50 La Liga goals for the season.
Still quite a few things to be decided in La Liga, both Europe-wise and relegation-wise, on what should be a nail-biting final day of the season. The only things mathematically certain are the top three placings – Real, Barcelona and Valencia, and a farewell to Racing Santander at the end of the season.