Deportivo La Coruna returns to top tier in Spain after eight years

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MADRID (AP) — Former champion Deportivo La Coruna has made it back to the top tier of the Spanish league after an eight-year absence.

Deportivo won 2-0 at Valladolid on Sunday to secure one of the top two spots that guarantee promotion from the second division. Cameroonian forward Bil Nsongo scored both goals.

Deportivo won the league in 2000.

The victory against Valladolid in the penultimate round allowed Deportivo to open a six-point gap to third-place Almeria, which lost 3-1 at Sporting Gijon. Racing Santander, which has also secured a return to the top flight, was two points ahead of Deportivo.

The final spot for the first division will be decided in a playoff involving the four teams placed third through sixth in the standings. Currently they are Almeria, Malaga, Las Palmas and Castellon. Burgo and Eibar can still make the playoffs.

Deportivo had spent 20 straight years in the top division before being relegated in 2010-11. It was also relegated in 2013 and 2018. It dropped to the third tier in 2020, making it back to the second division in 2024.

Villarreal secured third place with a 5-1 rout of fourth-place Atletico Madrid at home in the final match of the season in the top tier.

The game marked the farewell of Atletico forward Antoine Griezmann before he joins Orlando City in Major League Soccer.

It was also the farewell for Villarreal coach Marcelino García Toral and Villarreal players Dani Parejo and Alfonso Pedraza.

Both teams had entered the match tied on 69 points.

Barcelona had already won its second straight league title. It finished with 94 points, eight ahead of second-place Real Madrid.

Mallorca, Girona and Oviedo were relegated.

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