Barca through to Champions League, Mallorca survive
Kevin Fylan
Barcelona did just enough to claim Spain's final Champions League spot on Saturday as a 1-1 draw at Real Zaragoza safeguarded fourth place in the table for the Catalans on a tense final day of the season.
Barca made life difficult for themselves by conceding an early goal to a relegated Zaragoza side on nine minutes.
Javier Saviola levelled the scores two minutes before halftime, though, and the Catalans held on to win through to the final qualifying round for next season's Champions League.
Valencia, who wrapped up the title with a win away to Malaga last week, celebrated with a 2-0 win at home to Real Betis that extended their winning margin to seven points.
Valencia are joined in the Champions League by Deportivo Coruna, who pipped Real Madrid for the runners-up spot with a 3-0 win over Vicente del Bosque's side at Riazor on Friday.
Real, who slipped down to third, will have to beat Bayer Leverkusen in Wednesday's European Cup final at Hampden Park, Glasgow to avoid playing the qualifying round in next season's competition.
Celta Vigo, who lost 1-0 at Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, had to settle for fifth and a place in the UEFA Cup next season.
They were joined in Europe's secondary club competition by Betis, who finished sixth despite their defeat at Valencia, and Alaves, who claimed seventh place with a 1-0 win at Osasuna.
The two remaining relegation places were taken by Tenerife and Las Palmas after Real Mallorca, the only other side in trouble, came from behind to ensure their survival with a 2-1 win at home to Valladolid.
Tenerife and Las Palmas went into Saturday's final matches in the relegation spots along with Real Zaragoza, whose fate was sealed last week.
When Mallorca fell a goal behind early on Saturday there was a chance that one of the Canary Islands clubs could survive but Ariel Ibagaza and Alberto Luque scored in the second half to keep them in the top flight.
In the end, Las Palmas could manage no better than a 1-1 draw at Real Sociedad.
Tenerife were leading 2-1 at home to Bilbao at halftime when the lights went out, holding up the game. But regardless of the final result Javier Clemente's side were doomed to the drop.
