Girona were beaten by Athletic Bilbao on Monday night to complete matchday 25 in Spain.

The result, coupled with wins for Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, means there is now a four-team race for those three Champions League places with only seven points separating second from fifth.

At the top Real Madrid remain on course despite slipping up against Rayo.

Elsewhere Almeria broke a record no would want, Kubo didn’t celebrate, and Madrid fans wound-up Joan Laporta in front of a watching Florentino Perez.

Here are 10 things we learned.

Girona were beaten by Athletic Bilbao on Monday night to complete matchday 25 in Spain

Girona are falling but they will not drop too far from glory

Monday night’s defeat by Athletic Bilbao make it one point in nine for Girona who are now six points from leaders Real Madrid and only two points ahead of third-placed Barcelona. 

The inevitable stumble now puts their extraordinary season into perspective. The target has to be to stay in the top four and give UEFA the headache of deciding if they can play the same competition as Manchester City. It’s still on. 

They are seven points clear of fifth place and despite losing at San Mames played well on Monday night. ‘We aren’t a Champions League team but we will be in the fight to finish in those places,’ said coach Michel after the game. He’s right.

When not celebrating a goal gets ridiculous

Real Sociedad had not scored a goal in over five hours of football when Take Kubo finally hit the net on Sunday against Mallorca… and he didn’t celebrate. 

He spent a season on loan at Mallorca in 2021 and that seemed to weigh heavier than the club who have just given him a new contract until 2029 breaking their goal drought. The fashion for not celebrating has long since gone beyond what is reasonable. 

Surely Mallorca supporters would have understood had he wheeled away in delight having equalised in Sunday’s 2-1 win, a goal for Real Sociedad has been a long time coming.

Modric’s long goodbye will be clapped everywhere

Luka Modric was applauded off by rival supporters on Sunday when Carlo Ancelotti replaced him late on. It’s the kind of treatment reserved for special players who bridge the divide between opposing clubs. 

Santi Cazorla and Andres Iniesta have experienced the same thing. Modric looks set to leave in the summer and it will not be just Madrid supporters that miss him.

Ancelotti has now lost all four of his first choice defenders

Dani Carvajal’s late sending off against Rayo on Sunday means that Carlo Ancelotti will go into next week’s game against Sevilla with his entire first team defence missing. 

He already has Antonio Rudiger, Eder Militao and David Alaba out and Carvajal gives him a full-house. Expect midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni and winger Lucas Vazquez to join Ferland Mendy and Nacho in a makeshift back four.

Mbappe’s warm-up man ought to get a good gig elsewhere

When journeyman striker Joselu arrived at Real Madrid last summer, instead of Kylian Mbappe, it was so underwhelming he was not given the No 9 shirt and the phrase: ‘Madrid don’t have a centre-forward’ was repeated by fans and pundits several months into the season. 

He scored again at the weekend – his eighth goal in 10 starts. His goals per minutes ratio is one every 111, and for Spain it’s one every 58. The conclusion to jump to now is that he will be surplus next summer when Mbappe and Endrick finally arrive. 

If he does go clubs should be lining up to sign him. He’ll be 34 this March but what this season has proved is that he can do it at the highest level, and he never complains about being first choice.

Bit much to say he’s a flat-track bully but…

Robert Lewandowski scored twice on Saturday to take his tally for Barcelona to 50. That’s two more than David Villa managed and one more than Thierry Henry scored for the club. 

It’s a good return from less than two seasons although only six of them have come in the Champions League. Arguably the higher the stakes and the better the defences, the less effective he has been. 

He was too good for Celta Vigo on Saturday though and his first goal in particular was very special.

There is nothing Llorente cannot do

‘He was seen after the game cutting the grass and serving drinks in the players lounge’ joked one match reporter over Marcos Llorente’s incredible versatility. 

The Spain international, who started his career as a holding midfielder, has played full-back and wing-back for club and country, and is these days mostly used as an attacking midfielder. 

He was employed as a forward at the weekend. And it maybe his best position. He got a brace on Saturday as Atletico Madrid, resting Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann, thrashed Las Palmas 5-0.

Generation gap can’t prevent fruitful friendship

Remember when 16-year-old Lamine Yamal got a public on-field rollicking from 35-year-old Lewandowski who then refused to shake his hand? That was last November and it seems a lot has changed since then. 

Barca’s top scorer has realized that the teenager is his greatest supply line. Yamal set-up his first on Saturday and won the penalty he scored for the second.

How do you solve a problem like Almeria?

Spare a thought for Almeria fans who have not seen their side win in any of their last 28 games – that’s a record in La Liga beating the one previously held by Levante. 

They led against Granada on Sunday but conceded with 10 minutes left and still have only eight points this season.

Madrid fans sing to Laporta

Not football but a basketball Clasico took place on Sunday with Real Madrid beating Barcelona 96-85 in the Copa del Rey final. 

Both club presidents were present and Florentino Perez managed to keep a straight face while Joan Laporta was serenedad by Madrid fans with chants of ‘let the canapés fly’. 

It was a reference to him turning over a tray of spring rolls in a temper fit in hospitality last week when Barça could only draw with Granada. To his credit Laporta looked amused by the song.