Athletic Club would not have been the only team in La Liga that were hoping to see Mallorca beaten in Saturday’s Copa del Rey final, which did end up happening, as Los Leones won 4-2 on penalties at La Cartuja to secure their first success in the competition in exactly 40 years.
Athletic’s victory will almost certainly mean that another European place will go to the league. Ernesto Valverde’s side will enter the Europa League next season because they won the Copa del Rey, and because they are fifth – 12 points clear of seventh place – it’s almost certain that they will also finish inside the European places in La Liga.
But, as per Relevo, they would give that place up, which means that sixth would enter into the Europa League too, with seventh taking a spot in the Europa Conference League for the 2024-25 season – that is provided that Athletic do finish in the top five.
It means that Valencia are currently in possession of that final European place, but with eight matches to go in La Liga, there are five other teams still in with a realistic chance of snatching it away from Los Che: Real Betis (8th), Osasuna (9th), Villarreal (10th), Getafe (11th) and Las Palmas (12th).
