Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho was booed by the majority of a sparse home crowd as he ended his controversial three-year spell in charge with a 4-2 win over CA Osasuna.
Champions Barcelona rounded off their campaign with a 4-1 win over Malaga to match Real’s league record of 100 points from last season on the final day.
Mourinho’s name was met with a chorus of whistles when it was read out before the kick-off, but he did receive support from a small group of the club’s ultra fanbase who chanted his name throughout.
The 50-year-old, widely expected to return to Chelsea, did not appear at the post-match news conference, leaving veteran defender Alvaro Arbeloa to have the final say on the controversial manager.
“We respect his decision, the club’s too, and wish him well. We all know that we have taken a major leap in competitiveness and we knew we could have achieved a lot, but due to small details or bad luck it was not to be,” Arbeloa said. “He has had his successes and failures, as we have all had, but he gave his all and defended Real Madrid above everything.”
On the field, it looked as Mourinho would be given a good send-off as first-half goals from Gonzalo Higuain and Michael Essien gave Madrid a comfortable 2-0 lead.
However, Osasuna struck back with two goals in 11 minutes just after the restart through Roberto Torres and Alvaro Cejudo to level the score.
However, Mourinho was able to sign off with a win as further goals from Karim Benzema and Jose Maria Callejon ensured Real ended the season unbeaten at home in the league.
With the Portuguese’s appearance on the touchline for the final time the main attraction, the game even had to be stopped after barely a minute as photographers and cameramen spilled over onto the pitch.
Barcelona rounded off their championship winning season in style as a first-half blitz saw them dispose of Malaga 4-1 at the Camp Nou.
Goals from David Villa, Cesc Fabregas and Martin Montoya in the opening 16 minutes got the hosts off to the best possible start.
Andres Iniesta then made it 4-0 seven minutes into the second-half, before Pedro Morales got a consolation goal five minutes later.
Elsewhere, Real Sociedad qualified for the Champions League for the first time in a decade. Their 1-0 win over RC Deportivo de la Coruna, combined with Valencia’s 4-3 defeat at Sevilla, meant they claimed fourth place at the expense of Valencia.
Deportivo’s defeat also ensured that the Galicians were relegated as RC Celta de Vigo leapfrogged their rivals with a 1-0 win over RCD Espanyol.
Celta’s win meant that RCD Mallorca’s 4-2 victory over Valladolid was in vain as they too were relegated along with Real Zaragoza, who conceded three times in the final six minutes to lose 3-1 to Atletico Madrid and finish bottom of the table.
Valencia’s defeat meant that Sociedad just needed to win at the Riazor and Antoine Griezmann grabbed the only goal after 22 minutes.
Sociedad had to see out the final few minutes with just 10 men as Markel Bergara saw a second yellow card, but they held on to seal fourth spot.
Depor’s defeat meant that victory for any of the three sides below them at the beginning of the evening would see them relegated.
It was their Galician rivals Celta who took advantage as Natxo Insua’s 16th-minute goal was enough to give them a 1-0 win over Espanyol.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set