La Liga Daily Report - 2026-05-09

Akor Adams delivered the decisive blow for Sevilla, scoring a stoppage-time winner in a 2-1 comeback victory over Espanyol at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. The Nigerian striker came off the bench in the second half and turned a tense Round 35 relegation battle with a 91st-minute strike, his ninth league goal of the season according to one report.

Luis García Plaza praised Adams' impact after the match, and the result lifted Sevilla three points clear of the relegation zone, with the club provisionally climbing to 12th on 40 points from 35 matches. Espanyol's winless run extended to 18 league games in 2026, making Sevilla's late surge significant in a survival race that had been tightening for weeks.

Celta Vigo earned a huge 1-0 away win at Atlético Madrid, with Borja Iglesias scoring in the 62nd minute after a cagey first half at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. The result came only days after Atlético's Champions League exit and underlined the pressure on Diego Simeone's side in the closing stretch of the season.

The victory matters beyond one night in Madrid: Celta strengthened their push for European qualification and, combined with Real Betis dropping points, they kept the race for Spain's fifth Champions League berth alive. With three games left, Celta have put real pressure on fifth-placed Betis.

Barcelona head into Sunday's El Clásico against Real Madrid with an 11-point lead at the top of La Liga, needing only a draw at Spotify Camp Nou to clinch back-to-back league titles. Reports say the dressing room already believes the title can be sealed against their biggest rivals, while Hansi Flick has insisted his players are focused only on their own performance.

The stakes are massive: a point would crown Barcelona champions, while a win would also keep them on course to match the all-time league record of 100 points if they win their final four matches. The buildup has been sharpened by Real Madrid's internal turmoil, giving Barcelona a chance to finish the job in front of their own supporters.

Real Madrid's El Clásico build-up has been dominated by dressing-room unrest after Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni were involved in fights during training. Reports say Valverde suffered a head injury that sent him to hospital, while the club later fined both players roughly $589,000 each.

Coach Álvaro Arbeloa defended his squad, saying he would not 'burn them at the stake in a public square' and confirmed Tchouaméni would still be in the matchday squad for Sunday. The incident has become a major subplot ahead of a game that could decide the La Liga title.

Lionel Messi has offered his clearest recent assessment of his long-running rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo, describing it as a 'beautiful sporting rivalry' and stressing that it was never personal. The comments, made in an interview with Pollo Alvarez on the YouTube show 'Lo del Pollo', revisited the years when Barcelona and Real Madrid turned their individual duel into the defining storyline of modern football.

The remarks land on a day when both stars remain central to the sport's global conversation, with another article framing Messi as choosing Lamine Yamal as the player to become the 'best' in the world next. For La Liga, the reminder is that the Messi-Ronaldo era still shapes how the league is remembered and marketed.