1. Xavi's emotional send off
Barcelona's 2-2 draw with Deportivo La Coruna saw Lionel Messi score twice again, and Depor come from two down to gain an unlikely draw and avoid relegation, but the vast majority of the 93,743 crowd were not too bothered by the result.
Saturday afternoon at the Camp Nou was mostly about paying homage to veteran midfielder Xavi -- as he made his 505th, and last, La Liga appearance for the club ahead of his summer move to Qatari side Al-Sadd.
Xavi started the game and was replaced late on to a huge ovation from the stadium, before then returning to the pitch to lift the La Liga trophy for the first time as the club captain, and pick up his 23rd medal from 17 success-filled seasons at the Catalan club. He then gave an emotional address where he repeated that playing for Barca had made him "the happiest man in the world."
The address then ended with the 35-year-old saying he hoped he would return to stadium in a fortnight's time, having won the Copa del Rey and Champions League trophies, for a "treble" celebration party. Xavi is almost gone, but he's still got a few medals to pick up yet and, as long as he lands one, he will become the most decorated player in Spanish history -- surpassing Real Madrid legend Gento.
2. Madrid mood not quite so buoyant
The atmosphere was less celebratory at the Bernabeu on Saturday afternoon.
Not that there was a lack of things to smile about: the club's basketball team was congratulated on the pitch pre-game for their Euroleague win last weekend; Getafe were hammered 7-3 as Madrid ended as the Primera Division's top scorers with 118 goals in 38 games; Cristiano Ronaldo confirmed the Pichichi top scorer award with yet another hat trick to move to 48 goals in La Liga [his best ever season total]. Meanwhile, club captain Iker Casillas set a new all-time record with his 334th La Liga win and Norwegian starlet Martin Odegaard became the youngest player to play for Madrid in the league -- at 16 years, five months and six days -- when entering as a second half substitute.
Still this was a sad occasion. Ronaldo appeared less than happy to be replaced with less than an hour gone, and was unable to smile for the photo as Odegaard ran on. Casillas was again whistled by many Madrid fans on what was perhaps his final appearance for the club after 16 seasons with the first team. Neither was there any special recognition for other players sure or likely to leave -- including Sami Khedira, Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, Jese Rodriguez, Asier Illarramendi and maybe even Gareth Bale [who surprisingly spent the whole 90 minutes on the bench.]
Most poignant of all was coach Carlo Ancelotti sat up in the director's box due to a touchline ban, regularly receiving chants of support from the crowd. Ancelotti said afterwards that he still hoped to be at the club next season, and Ronaldo even tweeted that he wanted the Italian to stay on, but everyone knew this was almost certainly not going to happen.
The contrast with goings on at Camp Nou could not have been greater.
3. Spain could well have five Champions League challengers next year
Atletico Madrid took third spot, and direct progress to the Champions League for a club record third successive year, with their 0-0 draw at Granada being the day's least surprising scoreline.
There was also little drama in the race for the final European place. Athletic Bilbao's 4-0 win at home to Villarreal saw the Basques ensure seventh position and Europa League football, no matter what happens in their Copa del Rey final with Barca next Saturday. Injury-hit Villarreal were not too worried, as they had already sealed sixth spot and will also be in Europe next year.
But the race for fourth saw much more drama. Valencia were twice behind at Almeria, who needed a win themselves, but got it back to 2-2 at half-time, with Argentine centre-back Nicolas Otamendi heading another huge goal.
That did not seem likely to be enough though, when Sevilla moved ahead in the "live standings" by scoring three times in 10 minutes at Malaga. Ex-Valencia coach Unai Emery appeared set to deal a huge blow to his former club.
That was until Los Che's home-grown centre-forward Paco Alcacer ran clear, with just 10 minutes remaining, to make it 3-2. This was enough to take Valencia back into a Champions League playoff spot with 77 points -- the same tally that won them the La Liga title under Rafa Benitez back in 2003-04.
Meanwhile Sevilla finished on fifth with 76 points -- no team before have got so many and failed to qualify for the Champions League through their league position.
However, Emery's side could still make the top competition by beating Dnipro in Wednesday's Europa League final -- meaning Spain could well have five very competitive teams in the CL next season.
4. Relegation
As has grown customary through recent years, the placings at the bottom of the table changed regularly over the course of the afternoon as different teams dropped into, then rose out of, the bottom three.
It took just nine minutes on Saturday for the two teams not in the relegation zone at kick-off to slip down, and the sides which started in 18th and 19th to be "virtually safe."
Eibar had the most painful day -- going 3-0 up against Cordoba inside the first 35 minutes. During the opening half Almeria twice moved free of the drop zone by going ahead against Valencia, only to twice be pinned back and fall in again.
Deportivo's situation seemed to be the most desperate -- 2-0 down at the Camp Nou with over an hour gone, and Barca having not conceded at all in their last six La Liga games. But a screamer from Lucas Perez and snapshot from Diogo Salomao [both loan players] brought the game back to 2-2.
On the final whistle Eibar, Depor and Granada -- whose uneventful 0-0 with Atletico ended up suiting both teams -- all finished tied on 35 points. Eibar's worse record in their three team "head-to-head mini-league" meant the Basques' first ever season in the Primera Division ended in sorrow.
Almeria's eventual 3-2 defeat at home to Valencia means they were also down for sure -- with an upcoming Court of Arbitration for Sport decision on whether they lose three points or not for transfer irregularity now irrelevant.
5. Bittersweet goodbyes
The final day of 2014-15 was full of goodbyes, not just as the Camp Nou and Bernabeu, with two in particular standing-out.
The happiest send-off of all was possibly in Athletic's 4-0 win over Villarreal. Long-serving right-back Andoni Iraola's scored a rare goal in his 509th appearance for the club, meaning editors had to quickly add another clip to the video shown at full-time at San Mames.
Injury denied midfielder Borja Oubina a similar happy ending at Balaidos. But the retiring 33 year old -- who made his Spain debut in 2006 but was never the same player following a cruciate ligament injury the following year -- received a huge ovation from Celta Vigo fans before their final day 3-2 win at home to Espanyol.
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