La Liga Daily Report - 2026-05-23

Girona and Mallorca were relegated on the final day of the 2025-26 La Liga season, with Girona's 1-1 home draw against Elche proving fatal. Girona needed a win to stay up after two years ago finishing third and reaching the Champions League, but they fell behind in the first half, equalised after the break and still could not find a winner at Montilivi.

Mallorca beat Real Oviedo 3-0 yet still finished in the bottom three, joining last-placed Real Oviedo in the Segunda División. The result underlines how tight the survival battle was at the end of the campaign, with one draw and one win still not enough for either club to escape the drop.

La Liga champions Barcelona ended their season with a 3-1 loss at Valencia, a result that snapped their strong run and gave Los Che an impressive home victory at Mestalla. Valencia's win ended an 11-match winless league sequence against Barcelona, even though it was not enough to earn European football for next season.

Robert Lewandowski scored Barcelona's only goal in the 60th minute before Javi Guerra levelled five minutes later, Luis Rioja completed the turnaround in the 70th minute and Guido Rodriguez added a late fourth for Valencia in the reports. The defeat does not change Barcelona's title status, but it does puncture the sense of a perfect finish after a season defined by Hansi Flick's domestic dominance and the club's youth-led rebuild.

Barcelona's season finale also carried major squad-transition significance because Robert Lewandowski is expected to depart after a four-year spell in which he scored 82 La Liga goals in 132 appearances and 119 goals in 191 games overall. The Polish striker won three La Liga titles, a Copa del Rey and three Supercopa de Espana trophies, leaving behind one of the defining attacking runs of the modern Barcelona era.

With the 37-year-old's exit looming, Barcelona have already been linked with a summer shortlist for his replacement. That search matters because the club are trying to preserve the title-winning structure under Hansi Flick while replacing a proven scorer whose output helped deliver consecutive league crowns.

Real Madrid's final home game of the season doubled as a farewell occasion, with Dani Carvajal among the departures highlighted around the Bernabéu. The right-back leaves after lifting 27 trophies as a Real Madrid player, making his exit one of the club's most decorated farewells in recent memory.

The night also came amid wider uncertainty around the club, with reports noting David Alaba's departure and a 4-2 win over Athletic Club that closed the campaign on a positive note. Even in victory, the emphasis was on transition, as Madrid balance on-field rebuilding with a changing dressing room and a looming presidential challenge from Enrique Riquelme.

Renewables tycoon Enrique Riquelme confirmed he will run for the Real Madrid presidency, setting up the first serious challenge to Florentino Perez in more than two decades. Riquelme said fans will be able to vote and choose their next president for the first time in 20 years, framing the contest as a historic moment for the club.

The bid matters beyond club politics because Real Madrid remain one of football's richest and most influential institutions, and leadership change would shape recruitment, strategy and the tone of the rebuild after a turbulent season. With the Bernabéu already marking farewells to senior figures, the off-field race now adds another layer of uncertainty to Madrid's summer.

Barcelona's 2025-26 review pieces painted the season as a philosophical triumph as much as a trophy haul, with Hansi Flick guiding the club to a second straight league title. The champions were praised for trusting a youthful core rather than leaning on financial muscle, and the campaign was described as one of identity and internal development as much as results.

That same success is now feeding into summer planning, from succession questions around Robert Lewandowski to the broader challenge of keeping the squad refreshed after back-to-back titles. The club's perfect home record and title-clinching Clásico win, referenced in the season coverage, show why Barcelona enter the summer as the league's benchmark but also as a team with key decisions ahead.

Valencia's 3-1 win over Barcelona was the clearest upset of the day among the top-half clubs, ending the champions' hopes of finishing with a flawless final note. The match also ended an 11-game winless La Liga run for Valencia against Barcelona, giving the home side a morale-boosting victory to close the season.

For Barcelona, the result is more symbolic than damaging, but it still shows how thin the margins remain even for champions. Robert Lewandowski's goal, Javi Guerra's equaliser and Luis Rioja's winner made the game a reminder that the title race may be over, yet the competitive intensity of La Liga remains high right to the final whistle.