A round-up of some of La Liga’s most intriguing storylines across the week, traversing through the good, the bad and something beautiful.The Good: At least the suffering was worth it – maybe“These have been the six most intense weeks of my life, with a tremendous responsibility on my shoulders to prevent this great club from being relegated,” said Luis Garcia Plaza after Sevilla mathematically confirmed their spot in La Liga. And the truth is, those shoulders have been sagging under that weight. Two weeks ago, a heartbreaking late loss to Osasuna literally brought the players to their knees, and Garcia Plaza marched onto the pitch, stopping, staring, not quite sure what it was that he wanted to shout.“The team put in a great effort, but we’re empty, empty again,” Garcia commented afterwards, later, describing his players as ‘destroyed’. Did any of you really doubt that he would save Sevilla? Six jobs Garcia Plaza has had in La Liga over the last 18 years, and while he has been sacked on occasion, he’s never taken a team down. “I’m very happy and very relieved. The patient was very ill” – he didn’t seem especially well himself. None of those previous clubs have taken quite as much out of him as what he called the ‘greatest challenge of his career.’ Garcia Plaza is also the fourth emergency appointment Sevilla have made in the last four years. Jose Luis Mendilibar, Quique Sanchez Flores and Joaquin Caparros have all come in midseason to drag Sevilla, kicking and screaming, back from the brink of the disaster.“The goal will be to avoid suffering, because suffering is exhausting, it generates despondency, it distances you from the profession, and what I want is to have fun,” pleaded Sanchez Flores when he was asked about next season. At the other end of the country, 783km to the North, sat an equally relieved manager, after Alaves beat Real Oviedo. Having conceded an incredible 27 goals in nine games after Sanchez Flores took charge, they didn’t concede a shot on target in wins over Oviedo and Barcelona. Both sides took 12 points from their final eight games to get them over the line. The suffering, and there is no shortage of it, turned out to be worth it. Just. Would someone please give these two managers something a little less grueling – they’ve earned it.The Bad: A false sense of security induced by Real Madrid?What do RCD Mallorca and Osasuna both have in common, beyond the fact they could both get relegated on the final day of the season? Both sides have beaten Real Madrid in the last few months. Since then, Mallorca have won just two of their seven games, despite Villarreal being their only opponent in the top six. Osasuna’s relaxation is far more egregious: Los Rojillo have just two wins in their last 12 games after stunning Los Blancos.“It’s caught us all off guard. Nobody could have imagined that with 42 points we could get to this point,” commented Alessio Lisci after Osasuna became just the second team to be beaten by Espanyol this year, the other an Athletic Club side in and out of slumber. Just as it is inexplicable that Mallorca will likely go down with Vedat Muriqi, second in the Pichichi race with 22 goals, it is similarly concerning for Los Rojillo that Ante Budimir’s 17 goals have not seen them safe before the guillotine slams on the final two teams out the door. In previous years, Budimir’s goals alone have been enough to sustain Osasuna, but this year they have also had Liga revelation and potential Spain World Cup threat Victor Munoz to support him. If there was an away trip that Lisci might have wanted to avoid this weekend, a Getafe side chasing European football may well have been the one. For while Getafe have scored 13 less goals than Osasuna, they are experts at extracting the maximum number of points from their football. Of the teams in the bottom half, Osasuna have the best goal difference, the joint-fourth best attack, and the best defence of any team outside of the top eight.Mallorca find themselves on the brink after losses to Getafe and Levante, largely due to errors that put any fan’s head at risk of spontaneous combustion. Osasuna lack killer instinct. In two of their last four games, all defeats, Los Rojillo have been in a position to take points in the second half. It would still take a dramatic turn for Osasuna to go down, but on a weekend where it will be do or die, Lisci’s side are all too forgiving. At any rate, they can’t be caught off guard this time.The Beautiful: It fills your heartSpare a thought for Sergio Ramos, who finished his Real Madrid career desperate, unable to stop his side drifting out of the Champions League at Stamford Bridge, unable to savour his final minutes. Or perhaps Lionel Messi, who never knew that a soulless 2-1 defeat to Celta Vigo in an empty Camp Nou would be his final game for Barcelona. His nemesis, Cristiano Ronaldo, ran off with a Champions League medal around his neck, but never got to experience how Real Madrid fans really felt about him. Perhaps even Dani Carvajal, who will see a homage this weekend, but may find it embittered after being told to walk the plank in a mutinous season.A proper farewell in football feels harder to find than it should be. Yet La Liga was blessed with a number of them this weekend. Athletic Club paid tribute to Ernesto Valverde, and Inigo Lekue, a stadium understanding that whatever might have gone wrong this year, is but a footnote in a phenomenal story. Robert Lewandowski declared himself a fan for life of Barcelona as he cried Adeu to Camp Nou. So often during his career, Lewandowski has been described as cold, cool, steely, perhaps the image of the 21st century a terminator-style goal assassin. Yet here he was all emotional, a 37-year-old talking about love, his heart – he didn’t mention the 119 goals or the three La Liga titles. SE PARA EL MUNDO. Óscar Trejo rompe a llorar y le hacen pasillo ambos equipos para despedir a una LEYENDA del Rayo Vallecano. ESTO ES VALLECAS, ESTO ES EL RAYO VALLECANO. El momento del partido #RayoVillarreal pic.twitter.com/02sKqjYIIo — Jonay Amaro (@AmaroJonay) May 17, 2026In Vallecas, the best Rayo Vallecano side in history beat Villarreal, taking them a game away from European football for a third time ever. It was an afterthought. All anyone really cared about was Oscar Trejo, and making sure he felt what they felt for him. In his decade at the club, Trejo has helped Rayo to new heights, a second European qualification, two promotions and a first ever European final, but “here I learned that clubs don’t live solely on results, titles, or statistics. They live thanks to the people who, every day, often silently, sustain everything,” he wrote after. Everybody stayed at home to watch him struggle to hold back the tears too – more precisely, his home. “How to explain a place that has been much more than a job, much more than a badge or some walls? This club has been home.” Pure Atleti pic.twitter.com/mova58y42d — Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) May 19, 2026“People have been sitting here for half an hour and they’re not moving, and they’re not moving because you deserve it,” yelled Diego Simeone, amazed at the 70,000 people barely making a sound as they watched Antoine Griezmann depart Atletico Madrid again – the second time impossibly romantic in comparison. “I have a headache from crying so much and it’s been amazing,” Griezmann said weekly after his swan song, first sad, teary, then happy, fulfilled. If only these 7 minutes could last forever pic.twitter.com/FRinmdUxzb — Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) May 18, 2026“It’s great to win trophies, both individual and collective, but that doesn’t fill your heart. It does in the moment, but it fades. I take with me the love from tonight, the love I receive every day from the people who work closely with the club, from my teammates… It’s been incredible. That’s why I’ve been so happy in my career.” He should know – he left to win big trophies, and came back for love. This time, he leaves with a full heart.The post The Good, the Bad, the Beautiful: Not quite terminally ill, a false sense of security and many full hearts appeared first on Football España.
