Almeria, Malaga, Las Palmas and Castellon to fight for last 1st-division spot in Spain

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MADRID (AP) — Almeria, Malaga, Las Palmas and Castellon qualified for the promotion playoffs in the second division of the Spanish league on Sunday.

They will fight for the final spot in the top tier to join already promoted Racing Santander and Deportivo La Coruña. Racing won the second division, with second-place Deportivo securing the last automatic spot.

Deportivo, the first-division winner in 2000, made it back after an eight-year absence, while Racing will play in the first division for the first time since 2011-12.

The teams placed third through sixth after 42 rounds will take part in the two-legged playoffs. Almeria finished third and will face sixth-place Castellon, while fourth-place Malaga will play fifth-place Las Palmas.

Las Palmas secured its spot by beating Deportivo 2-1 on the road on Sunday, while Almeria won 1-0 against Valladolid. Malaga won 2-0 at Zaragoza and Castellon defeated Eibar 2-1 at home.

Mirandes, Huesca, Cultural Leonesa and Zaragoza were relegated to the third division.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer