A relegation battle that a fortnight ago involved half of LaLiga concluded on Saturday night with despair at Son Moix and the Estadi Montilivi. Girona’s rollercoaster season ended as miserably as it began, while Mallorca were left to lick their wounds after being relegated with 42 points.
The Balearic Islanders finished with as many wins as Real Sociedad (10th) and 15 more goals than Getafe (7th). Just five points separated the teams from La Real down to Girona, who finished 19th.
As recently as matchday 31, which concluded with relegation probabilities of just 2% for Girona and 1% for Osasuna, the odds looked stacked against Levante (81% chance of relegation at that point).
However, Luis Castro’s side coped with the pressure of the survival scrap better than anyone, winning on matchdays 35, 36 and 37, to set up a five-way fight to avoid the final two relegation places on Saturday night.
Elche hold on to sink Girona in final-day decider
It’s rare that two clubs go into the final weekend facing a direct relegation rival, creating a virtual play-off scenario. From the 1980s onwards, there have been six incidents of decisive encounters where one team has ended the day going down, with their final-day opponents clinching safety. On every occasion, it was the visitors who beat the drop.
This season’s showdown between Girona and Elche had the potential to buck that trend. Los Franjiverdes went into the match with the worst away record in LaLiga, having won just once on the road. Their average of 0.39 points per game suggested they may fall short against motivated opponents, who knew they’d survive with a win.
A tight contest saw Elche shift slightly away from the ball-playing approach that has defined them under Eder Sarabia. Their goal came from a set-piece, with Pedro Bigas heading on to find Alvaro Rodriguez, who did brilliantly to control the ball and fire home a spectacular opener.
They had only two other shots in the match, but saw the job out, despite conceding to an Arnau Martinez goal in only the third minute of the second half. Thomas Lemar’s late effort, which rattled the crossbar, was as close as Girona came to scoring a goal that would have saved them.
For Sarabia, there is ultimately vindication of his bold approach to life in the top flight, with Elche extending their stay at this level beyond their first season back.
As for Girona, this outcome might have been expected when they conceded 15 times and netted only twice in their opening five games. However, this is also a team that was outstanding in a 2-1 victory over Catalan rivals Barcelona in February. Between matchdays six and 31, they lost only seven times. But, with top scorer Vladyslav Vanat injured, the goals dried up in the run-in.
Girona picked up only three points from their final seven matches. That included two favourable home fixtures against direct relegation rivals, while they also hosted a firmly on-the-beach Real Sociedad, whose last league win was before the Copa del Rey final. Having finished third just two seasons ago, the demise of Michel’s men is complete, and they’ll be playing Segunda Division football next term.
The stars fail to align for Mallorca
To a large extent, the damage was done for Mallorca last weekend when they crashed to a 2-0 defeat against fellow strugglers Levante. They headed into the final matchday knowing that they’d need to beat already-relegated Real Oviedo at home, and hope for a very specific set of results across the other three matches.
The simpler part of that bargain was rarely in doubt. With Pablo Torre and Vedat Muriqi among the scorers in a 3-0 win, there were plenty of moments when the home fans must have questioned exactly how a squad featuring a number of talented players, as well as LaLiga’s second-highest scorer, had wound up in this mess.
By the time Muriqi struck the third in the 87th minute, there was already a look of resignation on the faces of the Mallorca fans and players alike. While Osasuna were losing at Getafe, they still needed late goals in the other two matches to shift the pendulum in their favour.
Those goals did not come, and Mallorca’s five-year stay in the top flight was brought to an end. Much like Girona, they’ve gone down with a mid-table budget, and a number of players who very clearly belong at the highest level.
That will spark plenty of soul-searching in Palma. It’ll be of no consolation to followers of Los Bermellones that they’ve gone down with 42 points, the highest total for a relegated team since Deportivo La Coruña dropped to the second tier with a record 43 points in 2010/11.
Levante’s escape one of the defining stories of LaLiga 2025/26
While they were beaten 2-1 by Real Betis, despite Carlos Espi scoring his 11th goal in 13 matches, Levante found salvation.
Espi’s scoring streak started with a brace in a 2-0 win over Alaves on matchday 26. Les Granotes had lost three in a row before that, with reason to believe that Luis Castro’s honeymoon period had drawn to a close. Relegation seemed like the only plausible outcome for a side that had spent virtually the entire campaign in the bottom two, along with fellow new boys Real Oviedo.
However, between matchdays 26 and 37, Levante won seven and lost only twice. 57% of their points and 64% of their victories across the entire campaign came during that period.
The appointment of the relatively unknown Castro at the turn of the year has proven to be an absolute masterstroke. The Valencia-based club were still winless at home at that point, but they can now celebrate having completed one of the all-time great escape acts.
Along with Getafe’s ability to build on a bright start to clinch a European place, Levante’s escape act will go down as one of the most memorable storylines in a Spanish top-flight season that has seen few teams truly punch above their weight.
Mark is a freelance football writer based in Madrid, and the editor of LaLigaExpert.com. He has been covering LaLiga and European football since 2014.
