Alaves beat Barcelona to end champions' 100-point chase in La Liga

VITORIA: Newly crowned La Liga champions Barcelona were beaten 1-0 by Alaves on Wednesday, ending their attempt to equal the Spanish top-flight record of 100 points.

Hansi Flick's team needed victories in each of their final three league matches to reach that mark, but their push was halted in Vitoria. Ibrahim Diabate scored in first-half stoppage time to hand Alaves an important win in the fight to avoid relegation.

The result lifted Quique Sanchez Flores's side out of the relegation zone and into 15th place.

It was not an easy game, they (battled) in a hard way, but it's OK because they are fighting to stay in La Liga and this is normal.

Flick told reporters after the match.

We let in the goal in the last minute of the first half... but for me it's more the positives (I'll take), the young players who played today and managing the minutes (for the others).

Flick made several changes to the side that beat Real Madrid in Sunday's Clasico to secure back-to-back league titles. Among those brought in was 21-year-old centre-back Alvaro Cortes, who made his debut.

Barcelona had celebrated their title on Monday with an open-top bus parade, and their display reflected some of that afterglow. The visitors saw plenty of possession and Marcus Rashford provided energy on the wing, but Alaves defended resolutely and kept them from creating many meaningful openings.

Just before the interval, Antonio Blanco headed a corner back into the danger area and Diabate reacted quickest, firing past Wojciech Szczesny as Barcelona's defenders failed to respond in time.

Alaves threatened again early in the second half, with Szczesny pushing away another effort from Diabate. The home side also went close through Jon Guridi, who beat the Barcelona goalkeeper but saw his shot across goal strike the post.

Barcelona, by contrast, found it difficult to carve out clear-cut chances as Alaves held on for a valuable victory.

Sevilla come from behind

Earlier, Sevilla recovered from a two-goal deficit to defeat Villarreal 3-2 away from home and move closer to safety.

The Andalusian club, which had been battling near the bottom in recent months, recorded a third straight win to climb provisionally to 10th place, four points above the relegation zone.

Villarreal, who are third, raced into a two-goal lead inside the opening 20 minutes through Gerard Moreno and Georges Mikautadze. Sevilla responded before the break as Oso and Kike Salas scored to level the match, before Akor Adams netted in the 72nd minute to complete the turnaround.

The victory came in a week in which former Sevilla defender Sergio Ramos is reported to be close to finalising a takeover of the club alongside an investment firm.

It's an indescribable feeling, giving back to the fans all the love they give us.

said Sevilla defender Salas.

Espanyol end long wait for a win

Espanyol beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 at home to claim their first victory of 2026 and snap an 18-match winless run.

Second-half goals from Pere Milla and Kike Garcia helped the Catalan side, in 14th place, move three points clear of the bottom three.

It's been one of the worst experiences of my professional and personal life.

Espanyol coach Manolo Gonzalez said of the team's long run without a win.

Gonzalez had tears in his eyes after Garcia's late goal confirmed the result.

Now we have to go to Pamplona and win (against Osasuna on Sunday).

he said.

We can't go there to play it safe. We have to take this momentum as far as possible.

Elsewhere, 17th-placed Mallorca were left in difficulty after losing 3-1 at Getafe, who are seventh and boosted their hopes of qualifying for the Conference League.