Lamine Yamal added to his extensive catalogue of outstanding individual strikes but could not prevent Villarreal from clinching Champions League qualification with a 3-2 win over Barcelona.
Barca were confirmed as champions of LaLiga with their 2-0 win at city rivals Espanyol on Thursday, a game lit up by a stunning curling strike from teenage sensation Yamal.
Villarreal went into the game five points ahead of Real Betis in the race for the fifth and final Champions League place in LaLiga. Their hopes of sealing a spot at Europe’s top table were boosted when Ayoze Perez capped a Villarreal counter to give them a fourth-minute lead, only for that to be erased in style by Yamal.
Yamal evaded three players as he cut in from the right-hand side of the box before bending a precise low effort into the bottom-left corner.
Fermin Lopez then fired in from the edge of the area to give Barca a 2-1 lead on the stroke of half-time, but Villarreal were not to be denied.
Santi Comesana’s dinked finish in the 50th minute levelled matters at 2-2, and Tajon Buchanan drilled in at the far post 10 minutes from time to secure victory.
In the end, Villarreal’s result was immaterial as Betis were thumped 4-1 by Atletico Madrid, but a win over the champions at the Olympic Stadium marked an ideal way for the Yellow Submarine to celebrate a return to continental football’s biggest stage.
This team is a Champions League side! pic.twitter.com/CVSZLL5fNV
— Villarreal CF English (@VillarrealCFen) May 18, 2025
Sevilla 0-2 Real Madrid
Carlo Ancelotti’s penultimate game in charge of Madrid saw them profit from the indiscipline of Sevilla, who had two players sent off.
Loic Bade was dismissed for dragging down Kylian Mbappe with the France star seemingly through on goal in the 12th minute.
Substitute Isaac Romero joined him almost immediately after being brought on after half-time, a VAR check upgrading his yellow card to a red for a rash challenge on Aurelien Tchouameni.
Madrid took advantage of playing against nine men, Mbappe finding the net with a long-range drive before Jude Bellingham bundled home a late second.
