Getafe and Rayo relegated, Sporting Gijon stay safe in La Liga; Carpi drop to Serie B in Italy
Action from across Europe's top football leagues culminated this weekend with champions and relegated teams decided.
Fans are evacuated from Old Trafford before Manchester United versus Bournemouth could kick off. (Source: Reuters)
Top leagues around Europe drew to a close this weekend with plenty of drama from top to bottom. Barcelona wrapped up the La Liga title for a second straight season, Stuttgart went down in the Bundesliga and Gonzalo Higuain set the goalscoring record in Serie A on Saturday. On Sunday, Manchester City drew but did enough to seal UCL place while Manchester United’s fixture was abandoned. Arsenal leapfrogged city-rivals Spurs to second. Thereafter in the relegation battles, Madrid based Getafe and Rayo went down in La Liga while Carpi dropped in Serie A.
AS IT HAPPENED:
0215 hrs IST: Now not to suggest there is match fixing involved, but there were reports suggesting there would be relegation windfall for Hellas Verona if Carpi went down and not Palermo.
0213 hrs IST: It’s all over in Italy! Palermo win 3-2 over Verona on the final day and Carpi beat Udinese 2-1. However, Carpi go down as a consequence of the result in Palermo.
0206 hrs IST: Meanwhile, Manchester United’s final league fixture has been confirmed for Tuesday night (local time)/Wednesday morning (IST).
0205 hrs IST: A minute to go… Palermo lead 3-2 vs Hellas Verona and Udinese are still trailing 1-2 to Carpi. No change in the outcome, Carpi still drop down.
0057 hrs IST: As things stand, Carpi drop to Serie B alongside Frosinone and Hellas Verona.
0056 hrs IST: Focus now shifts to relegation battle in the Serie A. Palermo lead 1-0 vs Hellas Verona while Udinese are down 0-2 to Carpi.
0050 hrs IST: Sporting Gijon stay up with 39 points, Rayo Vallecano (38) and Getafe (36) join Levante (32) in Segunda.
0049 hrs IST: It is full time! Betis 2-1 Getafe, Sporting Gijon 2-0 Villarreal and Rayo Vallecano 3-1 Levante.
0040 hrs IST: Getafe pull one back to make it 2-1. But it matters none as long as Sporting lead.
0038 hrs IST: Meanwhile Sporting have made it 2-0 and the Molinon is bouncing!
0037 hrs IST: Getafe are reduced to ten men now. Looks tougher and tougher for them now.
0029 hrs IST: Betis extend their advantage to make it 2-0 while Rayo have extended their lead too to make it 3-1.
0015 hrs IST: Levante pull one back from the penalty spot. Rayo 2-1 Levante.
0014 hrs IST: Real Betis have taken the lead over Getafe to make it 1-0.
2348 hrs IST: As things stand, Rayo and Getafe go down. Sporting stay up in the Primera.
2345 hrs IST: Our focus now shifts to La Liga relegation battle. It is halftime in Seville where Real Betis are 0-0 with Getafe. In Asturias, Sporting lead Villarreal 1-0 and in the capital, Rayo are up 2-0 vs already relegated Levante.
2231 hrs IST: Harry Kane finishes as the Top Goalscorer in the Premier League with 25 goals. Sergio Aguero and Jamie Vardy both with 24. Kane becomes the first Englishman to win the Golden Boot since Kevin Phillips in 1999/2000!
2209 hrs IST: Plenty of goodbyes today, Mikel Arteta, Tim Howard, Qique Sanchez Flores, Manuel Pellegrini to name a few…
2201 hrs IST: Alright the table then:
2200 hrs IST: John Terry tells fans, “I’ve always said I want to be here for the rest of my career and end my career here. I want to stay: the club know that and the fans know that.”
2159 hrs IST: No ‘All Okay’ from Old Trafford yet.
Still a ring of security around Old Trafford. pic.twitter.com/qRT0cHJu15
— Rob Dawson (@RobDawsonMEN) May 15, 2016
2145 hrs IST: Saints qualify for Europa League
FULL TIME: #SaintsFC 4-1 #CPFC
It’s a huge three points on the final day for @RonaldKoeman‘s men! 😇 pic.twitter.com/5ITbZIGIIy
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) 15 May 2016
2141 hrs IST: Final game for Mikel Arteta
An emotional @m8arteta after his final appearance for the Gunners #ARSAVL pic.twitter.com/wPBLRc7Qea
— Premier League (@premierleague) May 15, 2016
2128 hrs IST: Elsewhere, Stoke 2-1 West Ham and Watford 2-2 Sunderland.
2127 hrs IST: 10-man Newcastle with the result of the final day fixtures. They’ve absolutely humiliated Spurs 5-1. Sure they’re still going down to the Championship.
2126 hrs IST: For Crystal Palace, the FA Cup finalists, this isn’t the best run-in as they lose 1-4 to Saints.
2125 hrs IST: Arsenal pip arch rivals Spurs for the second place in the EPL table after a comfortable 4-0 win at the Emirates over relegated Aston Villa.
2124 hrs IST: It finishes Swansea 1-1 Manchester City at the Liberty Stadium. Man City finish with 66 points and Man Utd have 63 but City have a much superior GD than their city rivals for the 4th place.
2124 hrs IST: Liverpool can shift their focus to the Europa League final in Basel in midweek after they were held to 1-1 by West Brom.
2123 hrs IST: Life after Roberto Martinez starts smoothly for Everton. The Toffees win 3-0 against Norwich.
2121 hrs IST: Full time at Stamford Bridge and champions Leicester finish with a 1-1 draw to defending champions Chelsea.
2116 hrs IST: Spurs’ last game of the season isn’t going to plan AT ALL. They’re now losing 1-5 to relegated Newcastle United.
2111 hrs IST: Danny Drinkwater has equalised things for Leicester at Stamford Bridge. 1-1 now.
2109 hrs IST: In good news for Arsenal, Giroud has scored two goals in as many minutes to give Arsenal a 3-0 lead.
2108 hrs IST: Both Saints and Newcastle are now 3-1 up over Crystal Palace and Spurs respectively.
2056 hrs IST: Elsewhere the score updates are,
Stoke 1-1 West Ham, Watford 2-2 Sunderland, Newcastle 2-1 Spurs, Southampton 2-1 Crystal Palace.
2055 hrs IST: Chelsea have taken the lead over Leicester. Cesc Fabregas from the penalty spot.
2038 hrs IST: Watford equalised with Sunderland but have quickly conceded again. Elsewhere, Everton are 3-0 up over Norwich.
2032 hrs IST: Premier League have issued a statement on the abandoned Manchester United vs Bournemouth fixture.
2022 hrs IST: At the moment, Manchester City aren’t assured of the Champions League berth. There’s still hope for United fans…
2020 hrs IST: Half time across the board:
Arsenal 1-0 Aston Villa, Chelsea 0-0 Leicester, Everton 2-0 Norwich, Newcastle 2-0 Spurs, Southampton 1-0 Crystal Palace, Stoke 0-1 West Ham, Swansea 1-1 Manchester City, Watford 0-1 Sunderland and West Brom 1-1 Liverpool
2005 hrs IST: With City in the lead, United would not finish in the top-4 and miss out on Champions League next season.
2004 hrs IST: Elsewhere after 35 minutes,
Arsenal 1-0 Aston Villa, Chelsea 0-0 Leicester, Everton 1-0 Norwich, Newcastle 1-0 Spurs, Southampton 0-0 Crystal Palace, Stoke 0-1 West Ham, Swansea 0-1 Manchester City, Watford 0-0 Sunderland and West Brom 1-1 Liverpool
1959 hrs IST: We have official confirmation then. The match won’t take place today.
Due to the discovery of a suspect package in the NW Quadrant of the ground, the match has been abandoned today on police advice. #mufc
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) 15 May 2016
Further announcements will be made as soon as possible. #mufc
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) 15 May 2016
1947 hrs IST: Manchester United’s hopes to get that fourth place for Champions League spot was always going to be tough and now it’d have to wait. A suspicious package has been found at Old Trafford forcing the stadium to be evacuated. The kick-off has been pushed at the moment.
0216 hrs IST: Full time! Milan lose 1-3 to Roma while Napoli secure second place and automatic Champions League berth with 4-0 win over Frosnine.
0212 hrs IST: Emerson scores one for Roma and Bacca pulls one back for Milan. It is Milan 1-3 Roma now.
0153 hrs IST: GONZALO HIGUAIN HAS THE RECORD! And how! An unbelievable, acrobatic goal to beat the Frosinone keeper.
0150 hrs IST: 20 minutes left for Gonzalo Higuain to beat Gunnar Nordahl’s 35-goal record dating back to 1949-50!
0145 hrs IST: Meanwhile in Milan, Milan are 0-2 down to AS Roma. Salah and El Shaarawy with the goals.
0140 hrs IST: Things going to plan for Napoli. They lead Frosinone 3-0 in the 65th minute. Two goals for Gonzalo Higuain – one away from a record high in Serie A. Another from Marek Hamsik.
0130 hrs IST: Atletico Madrid close the season with another home win – 2-0 vs Celta Vigo. Athletic Bilbao win 3-1 over Sevilla in a game that saw three red cards.
0012 hrs IST: Atletico Madrid are cruising in the final game. Lead 2-0 over Celta Vigo. In the other fixture, Athletic Bilbao lead 2-1 over Sevilla.
0011 hrs IST: For the champions:
Bayern Munich 3-1 Hannover and Juventus 5-0 Sampdoria
2222 hrs IST: Celebrations begin for Barcelona
CHAMPIONS!!! #CampionsFCB #fcblive pic.twitter.com/ontggmXuy7
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 14, 2016
2215 hrs IST: End of both games:
Granada 0-3 Barcelona (Luis Suarez hat-trick), Deportivo La Coruna 0-2 Real Madrid (Cristiano Ronaldo double)
2214 hrs IST: POST! Barral hits the post for Granada with seconds left.
2208 hrs IST: GOAL! Luis Suarez caps off the season with a hat-trick! 40 goals this season. Barcelona lead 3-0 with minutes to play.
2204 hrs IST: Final change for Real Madrid: Gareth Bale goes out for Jese Rodriguez.
2201 hrs IST: 10 minutes left in the game, Ivan Rakitic comes off for Arda Turan for Barcelona.
2144 hrs IST: Second change for Real Madrid. Toni Kroos goes off, Isco comes on.
2131 hrs IST: With Cristiano Ronaldo subbed off, Luis Suarez will be the Golden Boot or the Pichichi this season.
Cristiano Ronaldo out. Luis Suárez on track for La Liga scoring title – first other than Ronaldo or Lionel Messi since Diego Forlan, 2008-09
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 14, 2016
2128 hrs IST: Second half begins. James comes on as substitute for Cristiano Ronaldo. Clearly Zidane is aware of the result in Granada and saving his superstar for the Champions League final on May 28.
2113 hrs IST: Both teams go into half time. Granada 0-2 Barcelona (Luis Suarez) and Deportivo La Coruna 0-2 Real Madrid (Cristiano Ronaldo)
2107 hrs IST: GOAL! Luis Suarez makes it 2-0 to Barcelona. The party has begun in Catalunya!
Suarez (39) has now scored more goals in a La Liga season than anyone not named Messi & Cristiano
— Kieran Canning (@KieranCanning) May 14, 2016
2053 hrs IST: GOAL! Cristiano Ronaldo adds another to his tally. Real Madrid lead 2-0.
2051 hrs IST: All over in Bundesliga, Stuttgart lose 3-1 to Wolfsburg and go down. Werder Bremen stay up with 1-0 win vs Eintracht Frankfurt. Eintracht into the relegation playoff against Nurnberg.
In the challenge for European football, Borussia Monchengladbach get the Champions League qualifier spot (4th). Schalke and Mainz through to Europa League directly while Hertha Berlin get the qualifying round.
2049 hrs IST: As things stand, Barcelona win the title.
2049 hrs IST: GOAL! Barcelona have also taken the lead. Suarez with the goal 1-0.
2041 hrs IST: 50th goal of the season in all competitions for the Portuguese player.
2041 hrs IST: GOAL! Real Madrid have taken the lead at Deportivo. And it Cristiano Ronaldo who has given them a 1-0 lead.
2029 hrs IST: No issue for Neymar then. He comes down to the pitch without any issue.
2024 hrs IST: Blow for Barcelona even before the kickoff whistle. Reports of Neymar not warming-up properly and may be unable to start. Expect him to start though, if there is an issue, he can come off later.
1955 hrs IST: Over in Granada,
Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen, Alves, Alba, Pique, Mascherano, Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta, Messi, Suarez, Neymar
Granada XI: Fernandez , Lomban, Babin, Lopes, Costa, Rico , Doucoure, Perez, Rochina, Penaranda, El-Arabi
1950 hrs IST: Team lists are out:
Real Madrid XI: Keylor Navas, Pepe, Ramos, Carvajal, Marcelo, Kroos, Modric, Casemiro, Bale, Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo
Deportivo La Coruna XI: Pletikosa; Pablo, Arribas, Sidnei, Navarro; Cartabia, Mosquera, Bergantiños, Fayçal; Alberto, Lucas
# Today we will find out who wins La Liga with Barcelona off to Granada and Real Madrid making their way to Deportivo. Also we’ll find out who goes down in the Bundesliga and who definitely gets that automatic Champions League slot from Italy.
BUILD UP:
# Here’s what’s left for the final round
Champions in three of four top leagues have been decided barring Spain. Let’s have a look at what’s left to play for on the last round of matches.
# Real Madrid can pip Barcelona to league title: Zinedine Zidane
Real Madrid need to win against Deportivo La Coruna and leaders Barcelona fail to win against Granada to lift first league title since 2012.
# We have to be very strong mentally: Luis Suarez
“We have to be very strong mentally…at some moment we’re going to suffer but that’s normal especially when you’re the visiting side,” Luis Suarez told a news conference on Thursday.
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