Not even playing at home. Not even favoring the results of other fields. Valladolid needed to win and did not go from a draw to zero against Getafe. Vallisoletans fall back into the well. Zorrilla was filled with tears and sadness after savoring for a few minutes, more due to someone else’s demerit – from Almeria to Cornellà – than his own success, salvation. The day was dramatic and ended with the relegation of the Vallisoletans, powerless, while Almeria, Cadiz, Getafe, Valencia and Celta – the only one of those who arrived with water up to their necks won –, they celebrated the permanence.
Valladolid is struggling to settle in the First Division. Since relegation in 2004, they have never managed to stay in the top flight for more than three seasons in a row. This time he returns to the well just a year after getting promoted. It is the second relegation in three seasons for the Brazilian Ronaldo project and the fifth in the 21st century.
Not even beating Barça or not losing the last three games was enough to save him. The five defeats in a row between the end of April and the beginning of May weighed like a slab.
Yesterday, the team was seen without ideas and very thick against a Getafe that has only lost one match with Bordalás in the last six days. On the bench, Pezzolano played it safe by introducing two attacking players such as Lucas Rosa and Sergio León. But there was no way. David Soria barely intervened on one occasion.
What’s more, the closest to the goal was Jaime Mata, but Masip flew over the line to save the header. “Now there is no consolation. It’s a shame for everyone. I can’t say anything more”, the Catalan goalkeeper apologized to the fans.
Despite not moving the scoreboard, Valladolid was saved for 23 minutes in the second half. The goals of Pierre-Gabriel and Koleosho, which twice led Espanyol to Cornellà (2-1 and 3-2), condemned Almeria.
However, Adri Embarba equalized on both occasions. The first, with a soft vaseline before the departure of Joan Garcia – the 2-1 lasted nine minutes. The second converting a penalty by Simo on Ramazani that the referee didn’t see at first and the VAR showed it. That goal, in the 87th minute, 14 minutes after 3-2, was worth saving (3-3). With the goal accomplished, coach Rubi announced the end of his stage.
In Betis-Valencia Ayoze scored in the first play. Before the start of the second half – you had to wait for all the matches to start in unison – at VillamarÃn they decided to chant JoaquÃn’s name. The 41-year-old player from Puerto de Santa MarÃa could not hold back the tears when he saw all his people overturned in his farewell on the day he equaled Andoni Zubizarreta’s record of 622 games in the Primera. Without him on the field, Valencia managed to draw 1-1 thanks to a great recovery by Nico González, on loan from Barça, who leaked a very good pass to substitute Diego López to beat Claudio Bravo (71), to end the problems of the xe club, which played with fire but did not burn.
Cadiz did the job earlier thanks to a goal from Escalante in the 10th minute in Elche. Signed in the winter, the Argentine midfielder, who was relegated last year with Alabès, has been one of the architects of Cádiz’s stay with four goals. It didn’t matter much that his compatriot Boyé scored the equalizing header from a corner in the second half.
