Barcelona End Their Season with a Hat-Trick Against Athletic Bilbao
Barcelona concluded their season with a 3–0 victory over hosts Athletic Bilbao in the 38th and final round of the Spanish La Liga.
The La Liga champions opened the scoring early after a pass from Fermín López to Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, who controlled the ball with his left foot at the edge of the penalty area and fired it with his right over the goalkeeper (14). He then doubled the lead three minutes later following a cross from Brazilian winger Raphinha and a mistake from Unai Gómez, which he exploited to head the ball into the net.
Lewandowski, who hadn’t scored in the league since the clash against local rivals Girona in Round 29, raised his tally to 27 goals, placing him second in the scoring charts behind French striker Kylian Mbappé of Real Madrid, who finished with 31 goals to claim the top scorer title in his first season in Spain.
With those two goals, the Polish forward achieved impressive figures, reaching 101 goals in 147 matches across all competitions over three seasons with Barça. He scored 69 goals in 103 league matches, 19 in the Champions League, 7 in the Copa del Rey, 5 in the Spanish Super Cup, and one in the Europa League.
Dani Olmo added the third goal for his team in the fourth minute of stoppage time from the penalty spot, which he earned himself and was confirmed by VAR after a foul by Yuri Berchiche.
Barcelona raised their goal tally in the league this season to 102, surpassing the 100-goal mark for the first time since the 2016–2017 season. The team also finished with 88 points, while the Basque club collected 70 points to secure fourth place and a spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League.
Big Win for Atlético Too
Atlético Madrid also ended their season with a dominant 4–0 win over hosts Girona.
Coach Diego Simeone’s men waited until the second half to break through the home side’s defense, scoring four goals—three of which came from Norwegian striker Alexander Sørloth, who netted a hat-trick in the 68th, 90th, and 90+3 minutes. He raised his tally to 20 goals, placing him fourth on the scoring chart. French defender Clément Lenglet scored the third goal in the 87th minute.
The match was of little consequence for both sides, as the capital club had already secured third place, while the Catalan side had guaranteed survival in the top flight.
Atlético Madrid raised their total to 76 points, while Girona remained in 16th place with 41 points, level with Sevilla, who lost 2–4 to Villarreal.
Villarreal, who had already secured the fifth and final Champions League qualifying spot, struck twice within the first eight minutes through Yeremy Pino (4') and Senegalese midfielder Pape Gueye (8'), before Sevilla narrowed the gap with a goal from Djibril Sow, a Swiss international of Senegalese origin (29).
Álex Baena restored the two-goal cushion before the halftime whistle (39), and Gueye added his second and Villarreal’s fourth early in the second half (53). Substitute defender Ramón Martínez scored a second goal for Sevilla in the 85th minute.
Villarreal ended the season on a six-game winning streak, including a 3–2 away victory against Barcelona in the previous round. The "Yellow Submarine" closed the campaign with 70 points, level with fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao. Their last defeat came in Round 33, when they lost 0–3 to Celta Vigo.
