La Liga Wrap: Atletico slip Alaves as Villarreal close in on UCL spot

Saturday’s La Liga action saw three games ahead of Barcelona’s La Liga trip to already relegated Real Valladolid.

Atletico Madrid’s end of season struggled with a stalemate at Alaves as Villarreal boosted their push for UEFA Champions League qualification with a win over Osasuna.

Let’s take a look at how the action unfolded…

Alaves 0-0 Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid’s trip to Alaves was dominated by a pre-match story of groups of travelling Los Rojiblancos fans being sent back to the capital by police as buses were stopped on the way into the Basque Country.

Diego Simeone’s side continued their inconsistent end to the campaign in Vitoria as they were unable to breakthrough.

Julian Alvarez saw his red card downgraded to a yellow by VAR, following a late challenge on Facundo Garces, but he will still miss next weekend’s clash with Real Sociedad.

Kike Garcia was denied by a smart stop by Jan Oblak late on as both sides settled for a point.

Draw in Vitoria. pic.twitter.com/DQqKqiE5xe

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) May 3, 2025

Villarreal 4-2 Osasuna

Villarreal bolstered their grip on fifth place and Champions League qualification with a superb win over Osasuna in Castellon.

A early double from Ayoze Perez and one from Thierno Barry put the hosts into a commanding 3-0 half-time lead.

Osasuna rallied with two goals after the restart, either side of a fourth for Villarreal from Nicolas Pepe, as the Yellow Submarine go full steam ahead in the run-in.

🇨🇮🪄 Nicolas Pepe (29) vs Osasuna… 🔝

• 5 chances created • 4/6 tackles won• 2 big chances created • 2 assists • 1 goal

Fantastic performance as Villarreal are hoping to secure UEFA Champions League qualification. pic.twitter.com/CKWZXs1q5O

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) May 3, 2025

Las Palmas 2-3 Valencia

Valencia put themselves on the verge of survival from relegation and deepened Las Palmas’ woes as they edged out a five-goal thriller in Gran Canaria.

Hugo Duro’s brace set the visitors on track for a win, as despite Oli McBurnie’s late goal, Las Palmas could not find an equaliser.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿⚽️| 𝙊𝙡𝙞 𝙈𝙘𝘽𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙚!

Back on the La Liga goalsheet!

Oli McBurnie gives Las Palmas hope late on in their match against Valencia. His third in La Liga and fifth goal for the seasonpic.twitter.com/mWhq5rDjmB

— Everything Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@AboutScotlandd) May 3, 2025

Los Che are now just one win from mathematical safety as Las Palmas sit three points inside the drop zone.

Images via Getty Image/One Football