Relegated: Demichelis's Mallorca thrashed Oviedo, why go down? | OneFootball

The team coached by the Argentine manager finished 18th in the table and, despite the win, was relegated because of other results.

Martín Demichelis’ Mallorca beat Real Oviedo convincingly, but failed to avoid relegation on the final matchday of La Liga. The Argentine coach’s team won 3-0 at home, although results on other grounds ended up condemning them to the Segunda División — they finished 18th with 42 points.

The Balearic side came into the final round needing to take all three points and hope for a favorable combination of results. Although they did their part, Betis’ win over Levante and the draw between Girona and Elche left the Vermilion team with no chance, as they ultimately lost their top-flight status because of the results among the clubs involved in the survival battle.

For much of the afternoon, Mallorca kept the hope alive. The team delivered a strong performance, controlled the match, and closed the season with an emphatic thrashing of a Real Oviedo side that had already been relegated in previous rounds. However, the news coming from other stadiums gradually extinguished those hopes.

Girona’s draw against Elche also proved decisive, since Demichelis’ team needed a win from the Catalan side to have a chance of staying in the top division. In the end, the combination of results left them with no possibilities. In this way, Mallorca will join the Carbayones and the Catalan team among the sides that will play next season in the second division of Spanish football.

What happens if two teams finish level?

In a tie between two clubs, LaLiga uses the following order of criteria:

1. Points earned in head-to-head matches

First, it looks at which team earned more points in the matches played between the two sides.

If one team won one match and drew the other, it automatically wins the tiebreak. If one club won both meetings, it also finishes ahead.

2. Goal difference across both matches

If both teams earned the same number of points in the head-to-head meetings, the tiebreak is then decided by goal difference in those two matches. The away goals rule does not apply here.

They simply count:

Goals scored Goals conceded The team with the better goal difference moves ahead in the standings.

3. Overall goal difference in the entire LaLiga season

If they are still tied, only then does the total goal difference in the championship come into play. That is:

Goals scored Minus goals conceded Across the 38 matchdays The team with the better overall difference finishes ahead.

4. Highest number of goals scored

If they are also level on overall goal difference, the next criterion is the total number of goals scored throughout the season.

The club that scored more goals will have the advantage.

5. Fair Play

And if they are somehow still tied, the final criterion is the Fair Play ranking.

Here they count:

Yellow cards Red cards

Disciplinary sanctions

In LaLiga:

Yellow equals 1 point Red equals 3 points

The team with fewer disciplinary points wins the tiebreak and stays up.

What happens if three or more teams are tied?

When three or more teams finish level on points, the system changes slightly.

In that case, a “mini-league” is created among all the clubs involved.

How the mini-league works

Only the matches played between those teams throughout the season are taken into account.

For example, if Mallorca, Levante, and Osasuna were level:

Only the matches between them are reviewed The points earned are added up And a parallel table is created The team with the fewest points within that mini-league finishes below the others.

The same criteria are then applied

If there is still a tie within that mini-league, exactly the same steps are used:

Goal difference between them Goals scored between them Overall goal difference Total goals scored Fair Play

It is extremely rare to get to the last criteria, but mathematically it can happen.

Relegation can be decided by the smallest details

That is why this final matchday promised so much drama. A goal in another stadium, a yellow card, or even a direct result from months ago could end up deciding who stays in the First Division and who drops to LaLiga Hypermotion.

The battle to avoid relegation was completely open, and several teams were simultaneously watching other matches while playing their own. The calculator played a leading role in a finish that was dramatic until the very end.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.