Alaves Boost Survival Hopes With Shock Win Over Barcelona

Alaves defeated Barcelona 1-0 to climb out of the relegation zone as LaLiga’s survival battle intensifies.

Deportivo Alaves boosted their LaLiga survival hopes with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over newly crowned champions Barcelona, moving out of the relegation zone with two matches remaining.

Ibrahim Diabate scored the decisive goal in first-half stoppage time after Barcelona failed to clear a corner, converting from close range after Antonio Blanco headed the ball back into the six-yard box.

The victory lifted Alaves to 15th place on 40 points from 36 matches in an increasingly congested relegation battle, with only five points separating eighth-placed Real Sociedad from second-bottom Girona.

Sevilla and Espanyol also earned crucial wins in the fight to avoid relegation. Sevilla came from two goals down to beat third-placed Villarreal 3-2 away, climbing to 10th place and moving four points clear of the drop zone.