MADRID — Atletico Madrid secured its place in the Champions League for next season despite only managing a 2-2 draw at Levante Sunday as Sevilla was held 1-1 at Celta Vigo. A point for both sides means that Atletico leads the Europa League champion by seven points with just two games remaining.
Atletico now needs three points from its final two fixtures at home to Barcelona and away to Granada to guarantee third place ahead of Valencia and avoid a qualifier for the group stages in August.
Sevilla could still qualify directly into the group stages of next season's Champions League itself should it go onto retain the Europa League.
But its hopes of doing so through La Liga took another blow as Celta remained in the fight for a European place of its own.
Celta trails Malaga by three points in the race for seventh place after it edged an Andalusian derby against Almeria 2-1.
Villarreal is guaranteed a place in next season's Europa League as Joel Campbell's solitary goal handed it a first victory in 10 league games against Elche.
9-man Lazio loses to Inter
Lazio missed the chance to move back into second place in Serie A as it lost 2-1 at home to Inter Milan Sunday after playing most of the second half with nine men.
Hernanes scored both Inter goals against his former club, netting the winner six minutes from time.
Antonio Candreva had given Lazio the lead but Mauricio was sent off in the 24th minute and goalkeeper Federico Marchetti was also dismissed shortly after the hour. Substitute Etrit Berisha's first act was to save Mauro Icardi's penalty.
Lazio remained a point behind Roma. The two capital clubs meet in the penultimate match of the season, before Lazio plays Napoli in its final game.
Earlier, Napoli cut the gap to Lazio to three points with a 2-2 draw at already-relegated Parma. Marseille beats Monaco
Late goals from Andre Ayew and Romain Alessandrini guided Marseille to a 2-1 win over Monaco in the French league Sunday and maintained its chances of qualifying for next season's Champions League.
With two matches remaining this season in the French league, Alessandrini's goal guaranteed a mouthwatering three-way final battle between Monaco, Marseille and Saint-Etienne for the final Champions League spot.
Earlier, Saint-Etienne remained in the final sprint for Champions League qualification with a 5-0 thrashing of Nice.
Anthony Mounier scored in injury time to give Montpellier a 1-0 win against 10-man Lens, keeping alive his team's hopes of qualifying for the Europa League. — Agencies
