Madrid, May 18 (IANS) The struggle to qualify for European football next season and avoid relegation remains wide-open after the penultimate round of matches in La Liga on Sunday.

Vinicius Jr scored in the 15th minute as Real Madrid won 1-0 away to Sevilla, who was safe from relegation with results elsewhere in its favor.

In the race to qualify for Europe, Celta Vigo remains sixth after a 1-1 draw away to Athletic Bilbao. Williot Swedberg scored an early goal for Celta, while Inaki Williams leveled early in the second half for the home side.

Sergio Camello and Alemao scored as UEFA Conference League finalist Rayo Vallecano beat Villarreal 2-0 at home, moving up to eighth place – a point behind Getafe, who currently occupies a place to qualify for next season’s Conference League despite a 1-0 defeat to Elche, reported Xinhua.

Elche’s win came through an early goal from Victor Chust and leaves the club with 42 points – two above the bottom three.

Valencia also has a slim chance of qualifying for Europe after winning 4-3 away to Real Sociedad in a match that saw the visitors come back from 3-2 down and with a player less after Eray Comert had been sent off.

Guido Rodriguez’s 89th-minute equalizer and Javi Guerra’s second goal of the game in injury time powered Valencia to the win.

Ademola Lookman’s penalty gave Atletico Madrid a 1-0 win at home to Girona. Antoine Griezmann played his last home game for Atletico before moving to play in the United States. The French forward received an emotional homage from fans in the Metropolitano Stadium.

The result leaves Girona third from bottom of the table, but Michel Sanchez’s side will be safe if it beats Elche at home in the last game.

Espanyol won 2-1 away to Osasuna thanks to goals from Carlos Romero and Kike Garcia, while Victor Munoz scored for an Osasuna side that now needs a point on the last day to assure its survival.

In Levante’s 2-0 home win over Mallorca, Carlos Espi scored the opening goal in the 32nd minute, and Kervin Arriaga sealed the win in the 87th minute.

The result lifts Levante up to 15th, while Mallorca is second from bottom but can still stay up with a last-day win at home to already-relegated Real Oviedo.

In a game with nothing to play for, champion Barcelona beat Real Betis 3-1 with two goals from Raphinha and one from Joao Cancelo, in Robert Lewandowski’s last match at the Camp Nou.

–IANS

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