MADRID, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid soccer team
finished second in Spain's domestic league on Tuesday, despite a 3-4 loss to
Seville, because Osasuna beat Valencia 2-1, giving Real automatic entry into the
Europe-wide Champions League.
To "escort" Champions League place
was Real's only goal this season, having fallen behind in all the competitions
that it entered. First-place Barcelona, whose unassailable 12-point lead means
it had already won the league with many games in hand, is Spain's other
Champions League entry.
Valencia and Osasuna will have to win August 9 and 24
play-offs to get into the 32-team league. Navarra-based Osasuna was the 2006's
Spanish league's great revelation. It now has the chance to go to the Champions
League for the first time ever.
Seville, still reeling from victory celebrations
after winning the UEFA Cup, would have stolen fourth place from Osasuna, if the
Navarra team had not thrashed Valencia.
The last game of the league will be Saturday's
Athletico-Barcelona game on Saturday, but nothing more is at stake than the joy
of a victory.
Already unreachable at the bottom of the league, are
Malaga, Cadiz and Alaves who will all go down to division two. Enditem
