体坛英语新闻：Racing Santander relegated on busy Saturday for Spanish football

MADRID, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Racing Santander became the first team to be relegated from the Spanish BBVA Primera Liga to the second division after they were defeated 3-0 away to Real Sociedad on Saturday.

The result means Racing have no chance of climbing out of the bottom three, while the win, which came thanks to two goals from Antoine Griezmann and a strike from Imanol Agirretxe, means that Real Sociedad are safe from the drop with three games left to play.

Sporting Gijon kept their chances of avoiding relegation alive with a 3-1 win away to Espanyol. Second half goals from Adrian Colunga, Oscar Trejo and Mate Bilic gave them a vital win, while at the same time virtually ending Espanyol's chances of playing in Europe next season.

Getafe also waved goodbye to their European hopes with a 3-1 thrashing at home to Mallorca. Victor Casadesus, Alejandro Alfaro and Tomed Hemed had put Mallorca 3-0 up before Alexis netted a late consolation for the home side.

Meanwhile Levante took a big step towards a top six finish by beating Granada 3-1. Aruna Kone opened the scoring just after halftime and although Odion Ighalo equalized soon afterwards, Xabi Torres and Valdo sealed the win to keep Levante fifth, but which leaves Granada with work to do before they can celebrate avoiding relegation.

Saturday ended with tension in the El Madrigal Stadium between Villarreal and Osasuna. Villarreal kicked off just three points ahead of Sporting and with a trip to Gijon in midweek.

Bruno Soriano scored for Villarreal two minutes before halftime, but the home side spurned chances early in the second half and Raul Garcia stunned the home fans with a goal from a fine dipping volley with 18 minutes remaining.

The last 18 minutes saw Villarreal try to recover and look for the winning goal, but it was not to be and they are now just 4 points above the drop zone with three games left to play.