Gabri Veiga scored twice as Celta Vigo clinched survival with a surprise 2-1 win over champions Barcelona on a dramatic final day of the season in LaLiga.

Starting the game in 17th, Celta knew a victory would preserve their top-flight status, and Carlos Carvalhal's men took charge as Veiga struck either side of the break. 

The 21-year-old drilled into the bottom-left corner to spark wild scenes at the Balaidos shortly before half-time, then saw a fortuitous 65th-minute cross sail in off the far post.

Celta clung on after Barca substitute Ansu Fati nodded home, clinching a 13th-placed finish as Real Valladolid went down, while Barca ended the campaign 10 points clear of runners-up Real Madrid.

Barca thought they had an 11th-minute lead when Franck Kessie latched onto a rebound to beat Ivan Villar, only for a VAR review to show the midfielder was offside.

Oscar Rodriguez skewed a first-time shot just wide as Celta went close, while Robert Lewandowski saw a curling effort clip the outside of Villar's left post.

The offside flag thwarted Rodriguez as he capitalised on Marc-Andre ter Stegen's error to flick home, but Celta did go ahead on the stroke of half-time when Veiga raced onto Haris Seferovic's pass to finish across goal.

With Barca struggling for momentum, Veiga put Celta 2-0 up when his mishit cross from the right swerved over substitute goalkeeper Inaki Pena, clipping the woodwork before nestling in the back of the net.

Fati ensured a nervous finish by heading in Ousmane Dembele's cross 11 minutes from time, but Celta clung on to ensure another season of top-flight football.

Malky Mackay was delighted to repay Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor’s faith by keeping the Staggies in the top flight following the craziest game of his managerial career.

County were 3-0 down on aggregate with 20 minutes left of their cinch Premiership play-off final second leg against Partick Thistle but ended up sealing a sudden-death penalty shoot-out victory three hours after kick-off in Dingwall.

Simon Murray netted 80 seconds after Yan Dhanda’s penalty to transform the complexion of the game and George Harmon put County 3-1 ahead on the day at the start of nine minutes of stoppage time.

There was VAR drama throughout the 90 minutes and chances at either end in extra time before both sides missed penalties in the shoot-out and sudden death. Josh Sims eventually sealed a 5-4 penalties win after Ross Laidlaw had saved Ross Docherty’s spot-kick.

Mackay said: “I actually had the Carling Cup final with Cardiff against Liverpool that went to penalties, and that was a mental game. But this was something else.

“This, being a two-legged play-off and having the responsibility of keeping this club in the Premiership, means a hell of a lot.

“Honestly, I never thought we wouldn’t win. Even at half-time I thought we could score three goals. If we got a goal, I thought they would take a step back and creak, and we would get the momentum, and that’s what happened.”

Mackay added: “As a manager it’s a huge achievement, because we’re a tiny club in the Premiership.

“I’ve read a lot of stuff, and there have been a lot of questions about how brilliant Partick Thistle have been, and they have done terrifically well. It’s quite clear that it would have been lovely for a Glasgow club to go into the Premiership and teams not to have to travel on the A9.

“I get that, but this is a great place and a great club. When players come up they realise what a great place it is and how good the people are running it.”

Mackay held talks with owner MacGregor after a 6-1 defeat by Hearts left County four points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership going into the split.

“My commitment to Roy is as much as his commitment is to me,” he said.

“He could quite easily have decided after the Hearts game that enough was enough, but we had a conversation about how I felt about the run in, and I told him I had the shoulders to carry it. I believed that this group of players could stay in the Premiership, and we’ve done well.”

Thistle had won their previous five play-off games, netting 18 goals in the process, and bounced back from the late blow to produce the better football and the best chance of extra time, which Stuart Bannigan missed.

Manager Kris Doolan said: “I’m devastated as you would imagine. I’m gutted for everyone to be honest because we put so much into the games.

“Half the country was probably behind us, not just Partick Thistle fans. Football is cruel and I know it’s cruel but to go out on penalty-kicks is worse because you feel as if you were so close.”

Three VAR reviews all went against Thistle. They had a penalty claim denied despite Nick Walsh being called to the monitor to view Nohan Kenneh felling Ross Docherty. Brian Graham was penalised after the ball hit his arm, and County captain Keith Watson had a red card rescinded after bringing down Thistle’s goalscorer, Scott Tiffoney.

“The one on Docherty, I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t given,” Doolan said. “From where we were it was blatant penalty.

“When he is brought over to the monitor you assume, it’s pretty blatant because it has been flagged up so I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t given.

“I don’t want to make excuses just on VAR, I feel like you would always be picking on VAR when we lost control of the game at times, five to 10 minutes when they score really quickly. We could have done better.

“Even in extra time we had a couple of chances which we could have scored and I was confident we would have taken one of them. It wasn’t to be, it just wasn’t our day.”

Ross County came from three goals down against Partick Thistle to retain their cinch Premiership status with a sudden-death penalty shoot-out victory following an epic play-off final.

Aidan Fitzpatrick put Thistle three ahead on aggregate two minutes before half-time in the second leg in Dingwall and they were in control until the 71st minute when Yan Dhanda’s penalty and Simon Murray’s close-range finish turned the game on its head inside 80 seconds.

County completed their comeback just after the 90-minute mark when George Harmon netted to send the game into extra time.

There were chances and VAR controversy throughout and the penalty shoot-out was just as dramatic as the game before Josh Sims finally settled matters three hours after kick-off to seal a 5-4 shoot-out victory.

Malky Mackay’s side extended their four-year stay in the top flight while Thistle, who went down through the play-offs in 2018 and have been to League One and back to the Championship since, will eventually find encouragement from their form under Kris Doolan once their shock subsides.

It was only a second defeat in 19 games under their manager, who suffered the loss of his father during a play-off campaign which saw Thistle win five matches and score 19 goals.

County made four changes, two of them enforced through suspension, as Ben Purrington came in for his first start since suffering a serious ankle injury in October. Doolan named the same team for a fifth game in a row.

County’s only real first-half pressure came courtesy of Thistle goalkeeper David Mitchell failing to deal with two high balls, Purrington seeing a header cleared off the line after the second blunder.

The home side survived a lengthy VAR review after Greg Aitken called referee Nick Walsh to his monitor after Ross Docherty went down under Nohan Kenneh’s challenge as he ran into the box. Walsh had a long look while County boss Mackay told him “it’s a dive”, and the referee decided against awarding the penalty despite definite contact.

The visitors soon took the lead after Tiffoney reacted quickest to a loose ball and drove it across the box. Fitzpatrick took a touch as David Cancola dived in, and the Thistle wide man reversed a finish past Ross Laidlaw.

The noisy visiting fans chanted “Thistle are back” and Alex Samuel missed an excellent chance to give the home support hope just after the break following a slip in the Jags defence. Mitchell made a good stop and a grounded Aaron Muirhead completed the clearance.

Thistle looked comfortable and Connor Randall cleared off the line from Steven Lawless as they looked to put the game out of sight.

But the complexion of the tie was transformed with 19 minutes of the 90 remaining when Aitken alerted Walsh to the ball hitting Graham’s arm in the Thistle box and Dhanda converted the resulting spot-kick.

Thistle then conceded a throw-in from the restart and Samuel capitalised on some hesitation from Darren Brownlie and drove in a cross which substitute Murray converted.

Jordan White and Brian Graham missed chances at either end before more VAR drama when County captain Keith Watson was shown a straight red card for hacking down Tiffoney from behind as the forward was about to thread a team-mate through. Walsh downgraded to a yellow after being called to the monitor.

The fourth official signalled for nine minutes of stoppage time just as Dhanda crossed for substitute Harmon to volley in off the post to make it 3-3 on aggregate. A VAR check for offside prolonged the tension.

There were further opportunities at either end and Murray missed a glorious chance with the last kick of normal time when he volleyed over from seven yards.

Samuel headed against the bar but Thistle had the better of extra time and Stuart Bannigan blazed over the best chance after being set up by Graham inside the six-yard box.

The shoot-out was just as tense.

Kevin Holt and Jack Baldwin saw penalties saved for either team before Harmon’s pressure kick took it into sudden death. Bannigan hit the post before Watson blazed over, and Laidlaw saved from Docherty before Sims netted to spark a pitch invasion from the home fans.

Atletico Madrid missed the chance to leapfrog Real Madrid and finish second in LaLiga on the final day of the season, as Jorge Pascual scored Villarreal's last-gasp equaliser in a 2-2 draw.

Antoine Griezmann laid on two goals for Angel Correa after Nicolas Jackson put Villarreal ahead early on, but Axel Witsel's red card saw Diego Simeone's side come under mounting pressure, which told when Pascual converted two minutes into stoppage time.

That meant Atleti finished the season one point adrift of their city rivals in third, despite Los Blancos labouring to a 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Pablo Barrios' error was punished as Villarreal went ahead after nine minutes, the teenager's miscued header teeing up Jackson for a powerful finish across goal. 

Atleti levelled when Correa turned Griezmann's clever free-kick home nine minutes later, and the France international teed up Correa again with the latter rounding Filip Jorgensen to put the visitors 2-1 up after the break.

With Atleti seemingly heading for second place, Witsel was dismissed for fouling Giovani Lo Celso as the last man, and Villarreal made their numerical advantage count in the season's dying moments, Pascual converting a rebound to condemn Simeone's side to third.

Victor Osimhen reached another milestone as Napoli concluded their Scudetto-winning campaign with a 2-0 victory over Serie A's bottom side Sampdoria.

Osimhen sealed the Capocannoniere with his second-half penalty taking his tally for the Serie A campaign to 26 goals, while it was also his 50th overall in the competition.

Substitute Giovanni Simeone's wonderful individual effort secured victory as the Partonopei lifted the Serie A trophy at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, where Luciano Spalletti was overseeing his final match in charge before taking a year-long sabbatical.

The Partenopei finished their memorable season on 90 points, their second-highest tally in Serie A – having collected one more under Maurizio Sarri five years ago.

Napoli created the first opportunity inside three minutes when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia fed Piotr Zielinski, who fired over from a tight angle.

At the other end, two former Partenopei players almost combined to thwart their old club, but Fabio Quagliarella squandered a great opportunity by heading Manolo Gabbiadini's inviting cross wide from inside the six yard box.

Koray Gunter produced a wonderful last-ditch intervention to deny Eljif Elmas a clear sight on goal after Osimhen had neatly cushioned a lofted ball into his team-mate's path.

Sampdoria went close after the break when substitute Lorenzo Malagrida shot straight at Alex Meret, but the hosts broke through in the 64th minute.

After Nicola Murru brought him down in the penalty area, Osimhen picked himself up and confidently swept the spot-kick into the bottom-right corner.

Martin Turk denied Frank Anguissa and Gianluca Gaetano with smart reflex saves, but was helpless when Simeone arrowed a stunning 25-yard effort into the top corner to seal the points five minutes from time.

Karim Benzema marked his Real Madrid farewell with a goal in a 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao, as Los Blancos clung onto second place on the final day of the LaLiga season.

The veteran forward – who is expected to head to Saudi Arabia after announcing his departure on Sunday – converted a penalty as Madrid fought back to clinch a point at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Athletic had been denied an early opener when Thibaut Courtois kept out Mikel Vesga's spot-kick, but Ernesto Valverde's visitors struck first through Oihan Sancet after half-time.

Benzema's equaliser however cost them a spot in the Europa Conference League, with Carlo Ancelotti's men clinging onto second following Atleti's 2-2 draw with Villarreal elsewhere.

Athletic had the chance to go ahead from the spot when Toni Kroos handled Inaki Williams' header 10 minutes in, but Courtois sprung to his right to push Vesga's tame kick away.

Unai Simon subsequently tipped Vinicius Junior's drive wide as Madrid's threat grew, and the Athletic goalkeeper remained alert to prevent Rodrygo from rounding him as an open first half ended goalless.

Athletic saw another bright start rewarded in the second half though with Ander Herrera dispossessing Dani Ceballos to tee up Sancet, who squeezed his shot beyond Courtois at the second attempt.

Madrid reaped a penalty of their own however after Yuri Berchiche caught Eder Militao in the face, and Benzema made no mistake from the spot, before he was substituted to a standing ovation.

Los Blancos were unable to find a winner without their talisman however, with Rodrygo missing a glaring chance, but their point nevertheless preserved second to end the season.

Jose Mourinho and Roma must take responsibility for their actions over the abuse of referee Anthony Taylor after the Europa League final, says Ref Support UK chief executive Martin Cassidy.

The Giallorossi were defeated on penalties by Sevilla following an ill-tempered 1-1 draw last Wednesday, bringing their coach's perfect record in continental finals to an end.

Mourinho lambasted Taylor's performance, with the Roma coach confronting the official following full-time, before fans harassed him at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport afterwards.

Cassidy, who leads a charity that offers support to match officials, suggested Mourinho's conduct exacerbated matters, and that both him and his club need to own up to their actions.

"My reaction was shock, but not surprise," he told Stats Perform. "I just hope that Anthony and his family are well and safe. To see the way it's manifested itself [is awful].

"I believe Jose Mourinho needs to take a chunk of responsibility here for this gerrymandering he has been doing that's resulted in this. Roma fans don't need any encouragement to behave in the way that the video has shown.

"It'd be really good to see Roma come out and condemn misbehaviour. I haven't seen it. It'd be really good if Jose Mourinho would come out and condemn this behaviour.

"It'd be great to see where UEFA are in this and what they want to do and what went wrong. Hundreds of referees go out each season abroad [and] we don't have these situations happen.

"It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that that was going to be a very hostile situation for Anthony."

Cassidy also reiterated fears that the abuse surrounding Taylor could have a further negative effect on grassroots officials, who already are forced to deal with harassment and improper conduct.

"How he kept his manner so calm when that was going on just shows the strength of character and emotional intelligence that Anthony Taylor has got," he added.

"[But] we're talking about the guy who had worldwide praise for how he responded to Christian Eriksen when he collapsed on a pitch.

"This isn't some run-of-the-mill, meat-and-two-veg ref we are talking about here. If he can find himself in these situations, what hope have grassroots referees got?

"It's a terrible end to the season for him. It should have ended on a highlight. You know if it wasn't for Manchester City getting to the Champions League final, I dare say that Anthony Taylor would have been doing [that].

"He will be devastated that it's ended this way, when it should be on an absolute peak of achievements. But I really believe that he will be getting supported.

"It's going to take a long time for [him] to get over his family being in that position. I think it'll take a long time for anyone to get over.

"Praise to him, he never reacted, he was controlled. He looked after his family and he got them out of that situation. But shame on Roma and shame on Jose Mourinho."

Football's governing bodies must do more to protect referees amid a "considerable rise" in abuse that has often been met with a "silent" response.

That was the message from Ref Support chief executive Martin Cassidy, who referenced issues with Bruno Fernandes, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Andrew Robertson in the Premier League this season.

Fernandes appeared to make contact with an assistant referee in Liverpool's 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United, while Mitrovic was banned for eight games after pushing Chris Kavanagh.

Robertson was another involved in an altercation with an official, when assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis seemingly made contact with the Liverpool left-back with his elbow, though the official faced no further punishment after an investigation.

A couple of seasons earlier, former Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero came under scrutiny for placing his hand on the shoulder of assistant referee Sian Massey-Ellis during a home victory over Arsenal. 

Cassidy believes the response to the rise in these issues has been inadequate, calling on the likes of the League Managers Association (LMA) and Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) to do more.

He told Stats Perform: "From a domestic point of view, what's been going on over here with the situations that [there has been] a considerable rise in contact with match officials from what's happened with Sian Massey-Ellis, Bruno Fernandes, Mitrovic, Robertson – it’s on the rise.

"When's it going to stop? And there are people who are silent on this who shouldn't be silent on this – the LMA, the PFA and even the Football Supporters' Association, they're all quiet on this, they comment on everything else.

"They will talk all these white papers and governments, and they tweet about enough is enough about things [that are important] to them, but they never come out and publicly condemn their behaviour by their members.

"The LMA never do it. We wrote to them, and we got a very benign, weak response. [The] PFA never say anything about the behaviour of their players – their members.

"Certainly, there never seems to be any stance from supporters associations who really want to stand up and say: 'Look, we are going to do something here, what's the protocols, what's the code of conduct for managers in the LMA, what is the code of conduct for a professional footballer with regard to how they behave with these post-match comments here?'

"So, there are a lot of silent people here who need to step up like the FA have in this country. When these people criticise the FA, the LMA and the PFA need to look at themselves and say what they are doing to address the situation that's caused directly by their members."

Cassidy acknowledged the problems span wider than English football, with the ill-tempered Europa League final between Roma and Sevilla marred by abuse of referee Anthony Taylor after the game.

Aside from refereeing issues, the ongoing racially motivated problems with Vinicius Junior and Spanish football continue – and Cassidy believes UEFA must improve.

"UEFA hasn't really got a good track record on what they've done with racism," he added. "So, they have been quite weak on that really and very erratic.

"Look at what has happened in Spain, they haven't really taken control of that. So, I'm not very hopeful that they'll respond to this in a manner that football wants it to respond to, but hopefully they prove us wrong.

"UEFA does, in particular with the UEFA foundation, some wonderful stuff. But when it comes to stuff like this, they don't seem to – look at what happened in the Champions League final last year, Liverpool-Real Madrid – they never really covered themselves in glory there.

"Let's take this opportunity, UEFA, let's make the game better. Let's come out hard and tough and let's send a message that this behaviour is totally unacceptable in our game."

Manchester City have learned from past failures in Europe as they prepare to face Inter Milan in the Champions League final, according to Rodri.

City were beaten to the trophy in 2021 by Chelsea after a 1-0 defeat in Porto before throwing away a late lead to crash out against Real Madrid in the semi-final a year ago.

It leaves Europe’s top competition as the only major honour the club has yet to land, but they go into next Saturday’s meeting with the Serie A side in Istanbul as firm favourites to complete an historic treble.

The second leg of that feat was achieved with a 2-1 victory against Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday, with a goal in either half from Ilkay Gundogan sealing the win and adding the cup to the Premier League title they won in May.

With Europe’s biggest prize having continued to elude them, Rodri pointed to last month’s sensational win against Real in the last four as confirmation that the team can right the wrongs of previous seasons.

“As I tell you before, we try to learn a lot from the past,” he said.

“It’s something you learn and I think the desire…how we played Real Madrid, for example, before a defeat there last year, so we’re going to play in the same way, trying to solve the situation, come back from the situation and try to win the final.”

The 4-0 victory at the Etihad against the reigning European champions that sent them to Istanbul saw City at their dazzling best, Bernardo Silva scoring twice together with goals from Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez to complete a 5-1 aggregate win.

It was in stark contrast to the feeling surrounding the club as they were eliminated by the same opponent at the same stage the previous campaign, letting a two-goal aggregate lead slip in the final minutes at the Bernabeu before losing in extra-time.

“I think that the experience is a very good point,” said Rodri. “Also the players that came in make a massive impact to give us extra every year. I think that the squad in general, you learn as a group. We try to innovate and push ourselves to the minute every time.

“I think Pep said that you will not be ‘big, big’ if you don’t win in Europe. It’s the exam we have to pass again. Another final and we are ready, that’s all I can say. I’m just going to push the guys to be ourselves. Be confident, be ourselves and try our best and fight for the final.

“We have a squad of 23 players and all of them have been important at some part of the season. The team wins trophies and the 23 were part of this from the first round until the end in the Premier League, the same in the Champions League to have into the final. The team is so important.”

Erik ten Hag is yet to speak to Fred about his Manchester United future with the midfielder about to enter the final year of his contract.

The Brazil international has played 35 times in the Premier League this season and started United’s 2-1 FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City on Saturday, but said afterwards that he is unsure about his future at Old Trafford.

This season has been by far the 30-year-old’s best campaign in terms of appearances with 56 games across all competitions.

He has played a key role as United have returned to the Champions League after a season away, as well as winning the Carabao Cup in February.

Ten Hag’s team were defeated by their city rivals on Saturday, thwarting them in their bid to win both domestic cups and stop City’s charge towards the Treble in its tracks.

“Of course I always want to be playing, to be helping my team and gladly today I started and I think we played well,” said Fred.

“(About my future) I still don’t know, I have to talk with my family, I still have one year left on my contract here. Now it’s holidays time and a good opportunity to rest. I’ll talk to my staff, to the club and see what’s everyone’s decision.”

Fred joined United for £47million from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2018 but struggled to win a regular place in the side during his first season.

In all he has scored 14 goals in 213 games for the club, and during his time at Old Trafford has nailed down a place in the Brazil squad. He currently has 32 international caps and played for his country at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

He added: “I do have to talk with Ten Hag as well, he’s the manager and the conversation has to involve everyone. We have to see how next season will pan out.

“I want to be important, I want to help the team, so we’ll see. But I’ve always been and still am very happy at Manchester United.”

Dundee have continued to prepare for their cinch Premiership return by securing Luke McCowan on a new two-year deal.

The 25-year-old scored 10 goals last season including an excellent individual effort in the title-clinching victory over Queen’s Park.

The attacking midfielder has played 76 times since joining from Ayr two years ago.

McCowan told the club’s official website: “I am happy to get the deal done and I am looking forward to the season in the Premiership and taking the positives from winning the league last year into this year. I am excited to work under the new manager and for the season ahead.”

A man has been charged after he was seen wearing a football shirt at Wembley which appeared to make an offensive reference to the Hillsborough disaster.

James White, 33, of Warwickshire, was charged on Sunday with displaying threatening or abusive writing likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress, Scotland Yard said.

The Metropolitan Police Events Twitter account retweeted a picture on Saturday of a man wearing a Manchester United shirt that had the number 97 on the back and the words “Not Enough”.

Wembley was hosting the FA Cup final, where Manchester City beat local rivals Manchester United 2-1.

The Met said White was arrested “after being seen wearing a shirt which appeared to refer in offensive terms to those who died in the Hillsborough tragedy”.

He was bailed to appear at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on June 19.

Meanwhile, police said a further 22 people were arrested during the course of the policing operation for offences including assault, affray, possession of drugs, and drunk and disorderly behaviour.

Inquiries continue in respect of an item thrown on to the pitch shortly after the Manchester United goal, and there has been no arrest at this stage in relation to that matter.

On Sunday, the FA said in a statement: “The FA strongly condemns the actions of the individual who wore a shirt referencing the Hillsborough disaster ahead of the Emirates FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

“We saw a photograph of the offensive shirt on social media and immediately started working to identify the perpetrator.

“Our security team were able to quickly locate the individual based on the image, and we welcome the swift action which was then taken by the police.

“We will not tolerate abuse relating to Hillsborough or any football tragedy at Wembley Stadium and we will continue to work with the authorities to ensure strong action is taken against perpetrators.”

Ninety-seven football fans died as a result of a crush at a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield on April 15, 1989.

An inquest jury ruled in 2016 that they were unlawfully killed amid a number of police errors.

The Football Association has condemned the actions of a fan at Wembley who wore a jersey referencing the Hillsborough disaster.

The Metropolitan Police Events Twitter account retweeted a picture on Saturday of a man wearing a Manchester United shirt that had the number 97 on the back and the words “Not Enough”.

Wembley was hosting the FA Cup final where Manchester City beat their rivals Manchester United.

Police said a man was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence and taken into custody.

On Sunday, the FA said in a statement: “The FA strongly condemns the actions of the individual who wore a shirt referencing the Hillsborough disaster ahead of the Emirates FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

“We saw a photograph of the offensive shirt on social media and immediately started working to identify the perpetrator.

“Our security team were able to quickly locate the individual based on the image, and we welcome the swift action which was then taken by the police.

“We will not tolerate abuse relating to Hillsborough or any football tragedy at Wembley Stadium and we will continue to work with the authorities to ensure strong action is taken against perpetrators.”

Sharing a tweet which featured a photo of the man wearing the jersey, the Met’s events Twitter account said on Saturday: “We are aware of this and have worked proactively with officials at @wembleystadium to identify the individual.

“He has been arrested on suspicion of a public order offence and taken into custody.”

Ninety-seven football fans died as a result of a crush at a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield on April 15, 1989.

They were unlawfully killed amid a number of police errors, an inquest jury ruled in 2016.

Rennes edged out Lille and Monaco to secure a top-four finish while Nantes' first league win since February saw them stay up at Auxerre's expense on a dramatic final day of Ligue 1 action.

Rennes clinched a 2-1 victory against Brest thanks to a Benjamin Bourigeaud brace, seizing on Lille's 1-1 draw with relegated Troyes and Monaco's 2-1 reverse against Toulouse to take fourth.

Bruno Genesio's side thus secured Europa League football for next season, while Paulo Fonseca's Lille must settle for a Europa Conference League spot and Monaco missed out entirely.

Champions Paris Saint-Germain squandered a two-goal lead in a 3-2 loss to Clermont, meaning they finished just one point clear of runners-up Lens, who ended the season with a 3-1 win at Auxerre.

That victory allowed Nantes to finalise a great escape in their final game, vaulting Auxerre to secure safety with a 1-0 win over relegated Angers.

Nantes therefore secured top-flight football for another year, evading the expanded four-team relegation zone by a single point ahead of the division being cut to 18 teams.

Auxerre, Ajaccio, Troyes and Angers will play in Ligue 2 next season, with Le Havre and either Metz or Bordeaux coming up from the second tier.

Lionel Messi ended his Paris St Germain career with a 3-2 defeat to Clermont.

The Argentinian World Cup winner will quit Paris this summer having already been linked with a return to Barcelona and Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal next season.

He will leave as a Ligue 1 champion with PSG having already secured the title before blowing a 2-0 lead to lose on the final day of the season.

Sergio Ramos, on his final appearance for the club, and Kylian Mbappe’s penalty gave the hosts control.

Johan Gastien pulled a goal back and Mehdi Zeffane levelled in first-half stoppage time. Grejohn Kyei gave the visitors the lead after 63 minutes and Clermont held out for victory.

At the bottom, Nantes beat the drop by a point on the final day as Auxerre were relegated.

A 1-0 win over rock-bottom Angers, thanks to Ignatius Ganago’s goal, gave Nantes the win they needed as Auxerre lost 3-1 at home to Lens.

Alexis Claude-Maurice’s double gave Lens a 2-0 lead before M’Baye Niang pulled a goal back. Lois Openda made it 3-1 with 12 minutes left to seal Auxerre’s fate.

Rennes won 2-1 at Brest as they clinched fourth ahead of Lille thanks to Benjamin Bourigeaud’s double, with Lille held 1-1 by relegated Troyes to go into the Europa Conference League qualifiers.

Monaco missed out on the top five after a 2-1 defeat at home to Toulouse.

Relegated Ajaccio beat third-placed Marseille 1-0, Lorient beat Strasbourg 2-1 and Nice beat Lyon 3-1 with mid-table Montpellier winning 3-1 at Reims, finishing a point behind their hosts.

In Germany, Chelsea-bound Christopher Nkunku opened the scoring as RB Leipzig beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 in the German Cup final.

The striker broke the deadlock in the 71st minute before Dominik Szoboszlai doubled the lead with five minutes left.

In Italy, Lazio sealed second spot in Serie A after a 2-0 win at Empoli thanks to goals from Alessio Romagnoli and Luis Alberto.

It came after Marcelo Brozovic scored the winner as Inter Milan beat Torino 1-0 to briefly move ahead of them but Inter must now settle for third.

Already relegated Cremonese beat Salernitana 2-0 to finish their season on a high.

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