LaLiga pitchside returns for LaLiga matchday 38, the final one of the season!
With the league title already long decided, most of the drama took place at the opposite end of the table. Granada had looked likely to avoid the drop after a couple of wins at the start of the month but Real Mallorca and Cádiz both won away from home to send Aitor Karanka’s Andalusians down to the depths of Segunda despair. Jorge Molina’s second-half penalty miss against Espanyol didn’t help matters.
Here is what the key figures had to say after each of matchday 38’s fixtures (full interviews were originally aired on Movistar LaLiga/Gol and these translated extracts were taken from the highlights posted on the LaLiga YouTube channel).
Real Madrid 0-0 Real Betis
Betis’ veteran midfielder Joaquín:
“It’s a season that all béticos should celebrate.”
“Winning a trophy and qualifying for Europe again is a big achievement for us.”
“It’s a source of pride and an honour to be able to go to different stadiums, including the Santiago Bernabéu, no less, and be given a standing ovation. I think it might be the biggest accomplishment in my career.”
“600 games,…oh my God, who would’ve thought it?! I’m going for it (the record number of LaLiga appearances), I’m going to try to catch (Andoni) Zubizarreta, which won’t be easy.”
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois:
“We have to thank the fans for always being with us. I think that it’s thanks to them that we are also in the (Champions League) final and we hope we can make them happy on Saturday.”
“We need to make sure we’re in top gear, not pick up any injuries. We’ve worked on physical conditioning this week in training to give us that extra edge.”
“He (Marcelo) is a legend, he beat me in a Champions League final too! I hope we can win one together on Saturday.”
“Congratulations to Bono, I think he’s going to win it tomorrow. So well done on winning the Zamora trophy (goalkeeper with the lowest goals conceded-to-game ratio in LaLiga).”
Rayo Vallecano 2-4 Levante
Álvaro García, who opened the scoring for Rayo:
“It’s a shame because we wanted to finish the season with a win here in Vallecas. We haven’t won here in a long time so it’s a shame.”
“You’d think that it (Rayo’s second goal) would’ve pushed us on to keep going and turn the game around but then they scored from a set play in which we had some bad luck with two or three ricochets. The fourth goal kills you.”
“It’s a pity that Levante are going down to Segunda. It’s a club with a lot of history and great fans. I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”
Roger Martí, who scored to become Levante’s joint-top goalscorer in professional competitions:
“We already knew that we were going down but in these last two games we really wanted to show up well, show some pride and finish with two victories that we could dedicate to the fans.”
“It’s a pity, we got going too late. All the damage was done in the first half of the season. If we’d been able to get an extra point or two we still would’ve been in the fight to stay up until the final day. But it wasn’t to be, now we have to learn from our mistakes and keep going.”
“I’m delighted (to have equalled the record). I’m so happy to have made history with Levante. It’ll stay with me forever.”
Valencia 2-0 Celta Vigo
Celta captain Iago Aspas:
“We’ll see. We’re going to reshape the squad a little bit. Some players will leave, others will finish their loan spells. We’ve got a really important year ahead, it’s the club’s centenary year. We hope to make some great signings, to keep together most of the good players that we’ve had this year. Last year we finished eighth, this year, I think Valencia have just overtaken us so we’re 11th. We’ll try to break into the top 10 which would be a good season for us.”
Valencia goalkeeper Jaume Domènech:
“We hadn’t won for quite a few games. It’s always good to finish the season by winning at Mestalla.”
“I think we’ve had some really good spells but also some inconsistent ones. Recently, we’ve found it difficult to close out games but we also got to the final of the Copa del Rey. It was disappointing not to win it, I think that would’ve changed the whole season.”
Elche 3-1 Getafe
Getafe midfielder Gonzalo Villar:
“Staying up was our target. It’s been a very difficult year. Obviously, we wanted to win today but the important thing was to achieve our goal.”
“I think Elche are a good team and they showed that. I think we were playing well in the second half, I even had a chance to put us 2-1 ahead, Kiko (Casilla) made a good save, and from that moment on, they scored a goal and then scored another one on the counterattack. Congratulations to Elche, I thought they were great.”
Elche playmaker Javier Pastore:
“The most important thing was to win in front of our fans. Both today and all year, they’ve been right behind us so we dedicate this victory to them. Setting a new record points total is also really nice, it’s great to have been a part of that. I’m really pleased, if the fans are happy then we’re happy.”
“I’ve had a good end to the season. It’s not been a very good year, I haven’t had a lot of opportunities to play and I wasn’t in very good shape physically. I hadn’t played for two years beforehand, which had a big impact.”
Alavés 0-1 Cádiz
Alavés centre-back Florian Lejeune:
“I think we deserved at least a point but the most important thing was to play a good game in front of our fans and show some pride.”
“We’ll take some time to reflect and switch off, then we’ll come back desperate to get back to Primera Division.”
“They whistled us a bit but we understand it. But in the end, look, they’re over there cheering us on. The fans are absolutely amazing and we have to congratulate them because they’re incredible.”
Cádiz goalscorer Anthony Lozano:
“We’ve really been up against it, it’s been such a struggle. Achieving what we’ve achieved (staying up) is really special for all the fans and for us.”
“We were under a lot of pressure, we really felt that pressure in the first half. We had to win and when you go into a game with that weight on your shoulders, your legs feel it too.”
“The Cádiz fans deserve to see their club in Primera División. They’ve stuck with the team through thick and thin, they never stop cheering us on, whether we play poorly or we play well. They’re always there, they totally deserve to be in Primera División.”
Granada 0-0 Espanyol
Espanyol midfielder Nico Melamed:
“We were aware of the run that we’d been on and we knew what was at stake for them, we came here to compete properly and to get three points. We gave a good account of ourselves.”
“Whenever we play away from home – and obviously at home too – we play to win, we always go for it. It’s true that this year we haven’t done very well away from home and that’s something we need to work on but we gave a good account of ourselves in this game, although the ball wouldn’t go in. We need to push on next year.”
Granada defender Víctor Díaz:
“Can you believe it? Nobody expected this after the last few games, in which we played well. It’s a hammer blow.”
“That’s football. In the end, you can win, lose or draw. Playing at home, we knew we had to win but it wasn’t to be. We had a chance with the penalty but we didn’t take it. All we can do is pick ourselves up, rest and try to come back as strong as possible to make sure we bounce back as quickly as possible.”
“We need to pick ourselves up as quickly as possible and try to make it back to Primera División as quickly as possible, which is what this club and this city deserve.”
Osasuna 0-2 Real Mallorca
Mallorca striker Ángel Rodríguez:
“We’re so happy. It’s been such a tough year, we’ve really been up against it. We’ve had some really, really bad runs of form in which we didn’t win for weeks. I think the hard work we’ve done has paid off.”
“I haven’t slept for weeks. We had some really dark days after the 6-2 defeat to Granada and before playing against Sevilla. I think the team put up a good fight in Seville, we knew then that we could achieve our goal because it was a really difficult game for us and we managed to get a draw. The last two result have been incredible for us.”
Osasuna centre-back David García:
“Congratulations to Mallorca for staying up. It reminds me of the situation we were in a few years ago, I know how they feel right now. So, well done.”
“I think this season has been more than positive. I think we’ve played at a high level even though we had a few months which were a bit worse, shall we say. But we managed to turn it around.”
Barcelona 0-2 Villarreal
Barça full-back Dani Alves:
“The fans came here to support us and we weren’t able to give them a positive performance. It’s a bittersweet feeling to get to the feeling day of the season with nothing left to play for. That makes it a bit harder mentally and spiritually.”
“Now that the season has finished, we need to take stock and think about coming back with a different spirit and a different mentality.”
Villarreal wide man Alfonso Pedraza:
“We could’ve achieved more with this team but when you’re focused on the Champions League and make it through each round really believing you can do something there, it’s true that in the league we haven’t played to the level needed to be further up the table. We had the chance to clinch a Europa League place last week and we didn’t take it and we knew that we’d qualify for the Conference League if we won or drew here, depending on what Bilbao did. Luckily, we played really well, we won the game and we had it in our own hands.”
Sevilla 1-0 Athletic Club
Sevilla goalscorer Rafa Mir:
“I’m really pleased that we were able to make the fans happy. They were fantastic, as always. Now it’s time for holidays, to switch off, recharge the batteries, everyone is going to think about their own situation and after that we’ll be back to give our all.”
“We’ve done what we set out to do. When I got here, they told me the very first day that we had to qualify for the Champions League. I think we’ve done that, I think we played really well, we’ve got a great team and fans that are right behind us. I think we’ve got lots to be pleased about.”
Athletic Club captain Iker Muñain:
“We’re obviously not feeling great. We came here to try to get a European place in the Conference League, we needed Villarreal’s result to go in our favour, which it didn’t, in any case, since they beat Barça. We did well in our game, it was an even match but it went their way at the end.”
“Looking at it from another perspective, we need to appreciate the things that we’ve done. We played in another Supercopa final, although we weren’t able to win it, and made it to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey.”
Real Sociedad 1-2 Atlético Madrid
Atleti captain Koke:
“It’s a good victory. We finish third in quite a strange year, everyone has been inconsistent. But we’ve achieved what the club wanted, some years that’s what it’s all about. Now we need to work towards next season.”
“We always have the right attitude. But it’s true that sometimes things don’t come off and they are difficult opponents, they play really well here at home.”
“With a couple of things that the manager noticed, we were able to get in behind them when we had the ball in their half of the pitch and that’s why you saw a different Atlético in the second half.”
Real Sociedad midfielder Martín Zubimendi:
“We were playing our last game in front of our fans so we wanted to finish the season in style. We started really well but in the second half, as soon as you take your foot off the gas, you’re quickly punished.”
“We didn’t press as well as we could have, we were losing individual battles and second balls. We started losing everything and you’re punished immediately.”
“We’ve reached our goal of qualifying for Europe for the third year in a row so we’re happy.”
“After everything that’s happened with COVID which stopped them (the fans) from coming, they’ve been really fired up this season and we’ve definitely noticed it.”