Five star Villarreal thrash Atletico Madrid in final match of LaLiga season
The 2025/26 campaign concluded with a clash between two teams competing for the last podium spot in the league. Both clubs had already secured their places in the UEFA Champions League well in advance, and with nine of the ten final round matches played a day earlier, the occasion felt somewhat like the aftermath of the Lord Mayor’s Show.
Nevertheless, an extremely entertaining opening 45 minutes captivated the vast majority of supporters inside the Estadio de la Cerámica.
Dani Parejo opened the scoring from the penalty spot, netting on his final appearance for Villarreal after Juan Musso was controversially adjudged to have fouled Nicolas Pepe inside the area.Television replays indicated only slight contact between the Ivorian and the Atletico goalkeeper.
Marcelino’s team extended their lead to two goals four minutes later, as Ayoze Perez hammered in a left footed effort and Georges Mikautadze added a third with a neat finish from close range.Marc Pubill cut the deficit to two goals, capitalising on Arnau Tenas's failure to gather Antoine Griezmann's corner, but El Submarino Amarillo had the last word in an eventful first half, with Pape Gueye firing in a magnificent shot following excellent work by Pepe.
Villarreal picked up where they had left off after the interval, scoring a fifth goal nine minutes into the second half when Perez converted his second of the evening, meeting Pepe's pass with a brilliant curling effort that beat Musso.
A touching moment occurred with just under 25 minutes of regulation time left, when the Cerámica supporters gave a standing ovation to departing pair Parejo and Alfonso Pedraza, who were substituted for Alassane Diatta and Sergi Cardona.
The home side comfortably saw out the rest of the game to claim a top three finish for the first time since 2007/08, capping an excellent domestic campaign.
Diego Simeone, meanwhile, will look back on a disappointing campaign by Atletico's standards, having finished outside the top three for the second time in three seasons and trailing champions Barcelona by 25 points.