Levante maintain push, Racing relegated

A strong second-half performance from Levante saw them maintain their push for a place in the UEFA Champions League with a 3-1 win over Granada on Saturday. At the other end of La Liga, Racing Santander were relegated following a 3-0 defeat by Real Sociedad. Levante, the modest side from Valencia, who have been more accustomed to fighting relegation battles in the past, have shown that their promising start to the campaign was no fluke. With just three games to play, they are joint-fourth, level on 52 points with big-spending Malaga who face Valencia on Sunday. Arouna Kone had the first chance of the game for Levante shortly before half-time with a shot which was well saved by goalkeeper Julio Cesar, but after the break the Ivorian forward did find a breakthrough. Granada grabbed an equaliser with their first moment of real danger as Odion Ighalo swept the ball home after 66 minutes. Levante quickly restored their lead, though, through Xavi Torres and then Valdo Lopes made sure of the win seven minutes from the end. Racing drop Antoine Griezmann hit a brace and Imanol Agirretxe got the other goal as Real Sociedad condemned Racing to second division football after a desperate run which has seen them fail to win since mid-January. Above them, Sporting Gijon are still showing plenty of fight as they secured a 3-0 victory away to Espanyol. It was their third win in four games, but Javier Clemente's side still have a lot of work to do if they are to avoid the drop. Adrian Colunga, Oscar Trejo and Mate Bilic scored the second-half goals for Sporting, who are four points adrift of Villarreal. El Submarino Amarillo finished level 1-1 with an Osasuna side that could have moved into a European place had they bagged a win. Villarreal have responded well to the arrival of coach Miguel Angel Lotina and saw their unbeaten run extended to four games with Bruno Soriano putting them ahead before the break and Raul Garcia equalised midway through the second half. Elsewhere, Mallorca claimed a 3-1 win in a mid-table scrap with Getafe. Real Madrid's victory in El Clasico with Barcelona last weekend means that they now need just six points to win the league and can be crowned champions on Sunday if they beat Sevilla and Barça lose against Rayo Vallecano.