In the first matchday of the Spanish league following the widespread support shown for Vinicius Junior in light of the recent racial abuse directed at the Real Madrid forward, Barcelona and Valladolid went head-to-head.
However Barcelona suffered a 3-1 loss at Valladolid on Tuesday, marking their second consecutive defeat after securing the title with games to spare.
Barcelona forwards Raphinha and Vinicius are teammates on Brazil's national team. Raphinha showed a message of support for Vinicius by wearing an undershirt with anti-racism words in Portuguese and the phrase "we are together, Vini." He revealed the message when he removed his jersey after being substituted in the second half and raised his right fist while leaving the field.
Players from both teams held a banner before the match with the words "racists out of football," which is one of the slogans of a campaign against racism launched jointly by the Spanish league, Spanish federation, and the government’s top sports authority. Anti-racism slogans were also displayed during the national and international broadcast of the game.
The win moved Valladolid three points clear of the relegation zone. The club owned by former Brazil striker Ronaldo can secure safety going into the last two rounds if Getafe fail to win at Real Betis on Wednesday.
Barcelona were coming off a 2-1 loss to Real Sociedad at home after securing their first Spanish league title since 2019 in the previous round.
Valladolid, who had lost five straight matches, took a 3-0 lead with an own-goal by Barcelona defender Andreas Christensen and goals from Cyle Larin and Gonzalo Plata. Robert Lewandowski, the league's leading scorer, scored a late goal for Barcelona.
"Beating Barcelona gives us a lot of confidence going forward," Plata said. "Now we have two finals left, and hopefully, we can reach our goal of staying in the first division."
In another match, Real Sociedad strengthened its hold on the final Champions League spot with a 1-0 home win over 10-man Almeria. Takefusa Kubo scored the winner in first-half stoppage time, giving Sociedad its second straight victory and fourth in five matches.
The win allowed Sociedad to open an eight-point gap over fifth-place Villarreal, which will host relegation-threatened Cadiz on Wednesday. Sociedad will secure the Champions League place if Villarreal fail to beat Cadiz.
Almeria, sitting four points from the relegation zone, has lost three of their last five games. They had forward Luis Suarez sent off with a straight red card in the 36th minute.
In another match, Celta Vigo and Girona played to a 1-1 draw. Celta took the lead with a goal by Carles Perez in the 42nd minute. Girona equalized with a penalty kick converted by Cristhian Stuani in the 59th minute. Stuani scored on his second attempt after the first was saved by the goalkeeper. The penalty was ordered to be retaken because a Celta player entered the area before the kick.
Celta Vigo have won only one of their last 10 matches, while eighth-placed Girona are winless in three games.
