A frantic Russian roulette-style finale created madcap drama but the worst possible result for the relegation rivals
With time and hope slipping away, the game changed. “There was nothing else for it,” said the Rayo Vallecano coach Paco Jémez, “so you go: ‘come on then, let’s play Russian roulette. See if we get lucky.’” A few metres to his right, standing by the bench beneath a blackening sky, Huesca manager Francisco Rodríguez had pretty much the same idea and so did the twenty-two desperate men before them, plus the 10,542 people watching from the stands, chests tightening. “The league was leaving us,” the Huesca manager admitted and they weren’t alone: the league was leaving them both, which is why they ran wild.
“We had to,” he said.
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Friday Alaves 2-2 Valladolid 2. Saturday Celta Vigo 2-1 Girona; Eibar 0-1 Atlético Madrid; Rayo Vallecano 0-0 Huesca 0; Barcelona 2-1 Sociedad. Sunday Levante 2-2 Espanyol 2; Getafe 3-0 Sevilla; Real Madrid 3-0 Athletic Bilbao; Villarreal 2-1 Leganes; Betis 1-2 Valencia.
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