Matchday 31 of the 2025/26 La Liga season may have all but settled the title race, but it has certainly added fresh intrigue elsewhere, with the relegation battle heating up.

With just seven games remaining in the 2025/26 La Liga season, the gap at the top continues to widen. Barcelona tightened their grip on the title with a dominant derby win, while Real Madrid’s slip-up has effectively ended their hopes of mounting a late challenge.

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid, despite a setback, remain well-placed in their pursuit of UEFA Champions League qualification. At the other end of the table, the fight for survival is gathering serious momentum.

Sevilla secured a massive win to boost their chances, while the teams in the relegation zone are beginning to show signs of life, making the battle far more competitive than it seemed a few weeks ago. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at five key takeaways from Matchday 31 of the La Liga season.

Alvaro Arbelo’s Real Madrid drop points again

Following their defeat to RCD Mallorca in Matchday 30, Real Madrid’s title hopes were all but over, as they found themselves seven points behind leaders Barcelona with eight games to go. After that setback, they went on to suffer a 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich at home in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

Alvaro Arbeloa was hoping the clash against Girona would help them bounce back ahead of the second leg. However, they could only manage a draw, and now find themselves nine points behind the Catalan giants. The team in white did have plenty of shots on goal, but they were not clinical enough in the final third and failed to create enough clear-cut chances.

At this stage, they do not even have an outside chance of getting back into the title race. The nine-point gap at the top is a clear indicator of how much better Barcelona have been. After being held by Girona, Los Blancos will be hoping for a much-improved performance against Bayern Munich in the second leg, or their season could well go down as a massive failure.

Barcelona’s dominant display in the Catalan derby

With Real Madrid dropping points yet again, Barcelona had the chance to move nine points clear at the top, and they made the most of it with a 4-1 win over Espanyol in the Catalan derby. Following their 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final, they were in need of a statement performance.

Hansi Flick’s men took control from the first whistle and ran the show. Ferran Torres scored twice early in the first half, while Espanyol pulled one back in the second period through Pol Lozano. However, late goals from Lamine Yamal and Marcus Rashford sealed a comfortable victory.

With this win, they head into the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg full of confidence. With the title race firmly under control, Flick’s side will now be looking to script an incredible comeback on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, Espanyol are now winless in their last 14 league outings.

Diego Simeone’s B team could not get the job done

With the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Barcelona on the horizon, Diego Simeone fielded a completely different XI from the one that started against the Catalan giants. With Atletico already out of the title race and in a comfortable position in their pursuit of a UEFA Champions League spot, the Argentine manager opted to take no risks against Sevilla.

Despite making wholesale changes to his preferred XI, Atletico Madrid still had enough quality on the pitch and went on to dominate proceedings. While they enjoyed the majority of possession, they struggled to create clear-cut chances.

Sevilla, meanwhile, had limited opportunities but made the most of them to secure a 2-1 win on the night. This defeat is unlikely to have a major impact on Atletico’s campaign, provided they manage to get past Barcelona in the second leg and book their place in the Champions League semi-finals. Their 2-0 advantage from the first leg should certainly come in handy.

Win over Atletico Madrid boosts Sevilla’s survival chance

Sevilla were heading into this fixture against Atletico Madrid on the back of a poor run where they had won just one out of their last nine La Liga games and had been winless in their last five. They were dragged into the relegation battle and were just two points clear of the drop zone.

With all of the bottom three teams securing a win on Matchday 31, Sevilla are still three points clear. But they have ended their winless run and taking down a team like Atletico will certainly give them a lot of confidence. Even though it wasn’t Simeone’s full-strength XI, Los Nervionenses had to grind hard to get the desired result.

The relegation battle is on to watch out for

The 2025/26 La Liga title race might be done and dusted, but there is still a lot to watch out for. The major focus will be on the relegation battle, as teams from the very bottom of the table have started putting in some exceptional performances.

All of the bottom six teams were unbeaten in Matchday 31, and five of those teams secured all three points. Bottom-placed Real Oviedo have won three out of their last four La Liga games. Despite that incredible run, they still remain six points off safety.

While survival won’t be easy, their form suggests they won’t go down without a fight. Meanwhile, 18th-placed Elche CF and 19th-placed Levante UD have both won two out of their last three league games. Elche are only a point behind 17th-placed Deportivo Alaves, while Levante are three points off.

Given the kind of form the bottom teams are in, the relegation battle could go down to the wire. With the future of multiple teams hanging in the balance until the end of Matchday 38.