Things in LaLiga are heating up for the final round of the campaign.

Two European places and two relegation spots are to be decided in Saturday’s last fixtures of the season. There is also a Sunday night game, though it will not change the outcome for the sides involved.

Overall, exactly half of the teams have something to play for in what should be a cracking night of play. For the exception of Villarreal and Atlético Madrid, everyone else will play on Saturday at 21:00 CET.

Football Lowdown prepares you for this ultimate round of LaLiga with a look at who is involved, who needs what, and other permutations.

Battle for Europe: Celta Vigo (51 points), Getafe (48), Rayo Vallecano (47), Valencia (46), Espanyol (45)

We start with the race for the final European places, where four sides compete for final domestic place in continental play available for LaLiga clubs next season.

Getafe, Rayo Vallecano, Valencia, and Espanyol are all in the mix to join the top six sides in a UEFA club competition next term. Celta Vigo, meanwhile, has qualified for Europe already, but does not know yet whether they will be in the UEFA Europa League or UEFA Conference League next term.

For Celta, their scenario is simple: so long as they do not lose to Sevilla and Getafe beats Osasuna, they will hold onto sixth and join Real Sociedad in the UEL. If they do lose and Getafe prevails, then it will be UECL football for Os Celestes.

As for everyone else, Getafe heads into the final round knowing that a win will be enough for them to play in a European club competition for the fourth time. All three of their previous appearances have come in the UEFA Cup/Europa League, the most recent being in 2019/20.

Rayo is in a unique position, as they will contest the UEFA Conference League final next Wednesday against Crystal Palace. Winning that will qualify them for the Europa League. If this happens, and Los Franjirrojos finish seventh in LaLiga, the UECL berth will be passed down to the side who finishes eighth, giving Spain nine European places next term. However, to guarantee themselves at least the UECL spot, they will need to prevail against Deportivo Alavés, and hope Getafe does not win their match.

Things start to get more complicated once we reach Valencia. Not only must they beat Barcelona at home, but they also require both Getafe and Rayo to drop points. They own the head-to-head with Getafe, so they would finish ahead of them in that case. If Rayo wins and Getafe does not, then Blanquinegros’ hopes of ending a seven-year wait to return to Europe will hinge on the UECL final.

Regarding Espanyol, they have the smallest chance of qualifying for Europe, seeing they start the round in the bottom half of the standings. They face Copa del Rey champions Real Sociedad at home to close out their campaign. Periquitos will require a win, coupled with defeats from Getafe and Rayo, while Valencia would have to drop points. Any other scenario would see them miss out. 

There is one scenario of a potential three-way tie for seventh, which would require for Getafe to lose, Rayo to draw, and Espanyol to win. Should this come to fruition, a three-team mini-table involving the trio would be created, using their matches from the season. Here is how it would pan out:

It would leave Espanyol dependent on the UECL final to determine whether they would join Rayo in Europe.

Finally, should teams finish level for seventh (or eighth), here are how the tiebreakers play out, and the points total they would finish on:

– Rayo Vallecano over Getafe (48 points), with the latter awaiting the UECL final result

– Valencia over Getafe (49 points)

– Getafe over Espanyol (48 points). If Rayo wins their game, then the UECL final would decide Getafe’s fate.

It leaves the final round of the European race in LaLiga all the more interesting, given the plethora of scenarios on the line.

Relegation Battle: Levante (42), Osasuna (42), Elche (42), Girona (40), Mallorca (39)

In what is perhaps the most chaotic relegation battle in LaLiga history, as many of five teams still fear the potential of joining Real Oviedo in the second tier in 2026/27. Two of them will do so, while three will be left celebrating.

For starters, the simplest scenario is Levante, Osasuna, and Elche all remain in the division next season if they avoid defeat. This is due to the fact that Elche faces Girona. Mallorca will be relegated irrespective of other results if they do not win. Meanwhile, a Girona win could produce chaos, as while they would save themselves, any two of the other four sides could still end up going down.

We could even see a four-way tie for 16th, as wins from Girona and Mallorca, coupled with defeats from Levante and Osasuna, would result in four teams finishing on 42 (Girona would be safe on 43 points). If this plays out, here is the head-to-head mini-table involving the four (teams highighted in red would be relegated):

Across the four-way head-to-head, Osasuna and Mallorca would be the ones going down.

Remarkably, there could even be a three-way tie on 42 points involving any of the four teams above. The following below describes what needs to happen and how the mini-tables would be:

– Girona beats Elche, Levante and Osasuna lose, and Mallorca does not win:

• Note that for Osasuna and Elche, it would go down to overall goal difference.

– Girona beats Elche, Mallorca wins, Osasuna loses, and Levante avoids defeat:

– Girona beats Elche, Mallorca wins, Levante loses, and Osasuna avoids defeat:

– Elche beats Girona, Mallorca wins, and both Osasuna and Levante lose:

Finally, any two of the four teams can end up level on 42 points. Below shows the head-to-heads:

– Elche over Levante

– Osasuna over Levante

– Levante over Mallorca

– Mallorca over Elche

– Both Osasuna and Mallorca, as well as Osasuna and Elche would not be determined by head-to-head since they offset in both scenarios. Goal difference is the next tiebreaker, something which Osasuna currently has in their favour in both cases.

Unlike the Serie A, there is no additional playoff to determine the final team goes down.

It goes without saying that this relegation race is by far the most thrilling across the top leagues in Europe. It is now a matter of determining who will be able to save themselves from the drop to LaLiga 2.