Bilbao lose to Alaves, out of Champions League race

madrid — Athletic Bilbao’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League ended with a 1-0 loss at Alaves in the Spanish league late on Sunday.

The defeat left Athletic seven points behind fourth-placed Sevilla with two rounds to go.

Sixth-placed Athletic are still in position to qualify for the Europa League, although they are level on points with seventhplaced Real Sociedad.

The teams in fifth and sixth places qualify for the second-tier European competition. Fifthplaced Villarreal, who lost at Barcelona on Saturday, are one point in front of Athletic and Real Sociedad. Villarreal still have an outside chance of overcoming Sevilla for the final Champions League spot.

“We will likely have to win the next two matches now to guarantee sixth place,” Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde said.

Theo Hernandez scored the winner for Alaves with a leftfooted shot from just inside the area in the 53rd minute.

The result ended Athletic’s four-match winning streak.

It was the fifth game in a row without a loss for mid-table Alaves, who have already started turning their focus to the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona on May 27.

Deportivo La Coruna missed another chance to avoid relegation with the home loss to Espanyol.

A draw at home would have been enough, but Espanyol won with first-half goals by Leo Baptistao and Gerard Moreno. Deportivo’s goal was scored by Florin Andone just after halftime.

It was the fourth match in a row without a win for Deportivo, who are stuck on 32 points.

That’s two more than 17thplaced Leganes and five more than 18th-placed Sporting Gijon, who are the first team inside the relegation zone. Leganes play their 36th-round match later on Monday against Real Betis.

88 League goals conceded by Osasuna, the most by a Spanish league club in more than six decades