Barcelona lose 3-1 to Valencia in Lewandowski farewell night

Polish striker Robert Lewandowski brought his glittering spell with league champions Barcelona to an end with a symbolic goal against Valencia, who came from behind to claim a 3-1 home victory in the final round of La Liga, while Girona — third two seasons ago — were relegated alongside Real Mallorca and Real Oviedo.

Having already received a tribute from the Catalan club’s supporters in the previous match at the “Camp Nou”, Lewandowski will depart with “legend” status after helping Barcelona win the league title three times, including in the last two seasons, in addition to three Spanish Super Cup titles and one Copa del Rey crown since joining the “Blaugrana” from Germany’s Bayern Munich in 2022.

The next destination of the 37-year-old Polish international remains unknown, despite speculation linking him with a move to Saudi side Al Hilal.

Lewandowski appeared visibly emotional after the final whistle as he greeted the travelling Barcelona supporters, while Valencia fans also gave him a warm round of applause.

Barcelona had already sealed the league title with a 2-0 victory over arch-rivals Real Madrid in round 36, ending the season with 94 points, eight ahead of the royal club, who finished a second consecutive year without a major trophy.

After Lewandowski opened the scoring for Barcelona in the 61st minute, Javier Guerra equalised for Valencia in the 66th. Valencia, who finished ninth and failed to qualify for European competition, then struck through Luis Rioja in the 71st minute and Argentine Guido Rodríguez in added time (90+8).

Real Madrid:

Elsewhere, coach Álvaro Arbeloa and captain Dani Carvajal also played their farewell matches for Real Madrid, who ended their season with a morale-boosting 4-2 win over Athletic Bilbao.

Arbeloa had announced on Friday that he would leave Real after taking charge in January following the departure of Xabi Alonso, ending an unsuccessful four-month interim spell.

After being jeered during his return to the Santiago Bernabéu last week, and amid growing criticism over behaviour viewed as overly individualistic, France international Kylian Mbappé managed to finish the season on the scoresheet before heading to Clairefontaine to prepare for the 2026 World Cup with his national side.

Mbappé tops scoring charts -

Despite a disappointing season in terms of results, Mbappé secured the league’s “Pichichi” top scorer award for the second consecutive year, taking his tally to 25 goals in 31 matches, two ahead of Mallorca striker and Kosovo international Vedat Muriqi on 23.

Alongside Mbappé’s goal in the 51st minute, Gonzalo García (12), England’s Jude Bellingham (41) and Morocco’s Brahim Díaz (88) scored for Real, while Gorka Guruzeta (45+1) and Urko Izeta (90+1) netted for Bilbao, who finished the season in 12th place.

While the identities of the five teams qualifying for the Champions League were already known before the final round — Barcelona, Real Madrid, Villarreal, Atlético Madrid and Real Betis — Celta Vigo and Getafe secured Europa League and Conference League spots respectively with identical 1-0 victories over Sevilla and Osasuna.

Only three points separated seventh-placed Getafe from 12th-placed Bilbao before the round began.

At the bottom of the table, Real Mallorca and Girona joined already relegated Real Oviedo, who finished bottom of the league, in dropping to the second division.

Real Mallorca were relegated despite a convincing 3-0 win over Real Oviedo, taking their tally to 42 points, but they remained behind 16th-placed Levante and 17th-placed Osasuna on head-to-head record among the three sides, despite Osasuna’s defeat to Real Betis.

Girona, on 41 points, failed to escape the relegation zone and in fact slipped to 19th place after drawing 1-1 with Elche.