Barcelona lose, Bilbao stay afloat
Barcelona lose, Bilbao stay afloat
Barcelona ended a triumphant season with a loss to Athletic Bilbao to finish with a 12-point lead in the standings.

Madrid: Spanish league champion FC Barcelona ended a triumphant season with a 3-1 loss to Athletic Bilbao to finish with a 12-point lead in the standings.

Barcelona, which doubled its trophy haul on Wednesday by winning the European Champions League for the second time, fielded an understrength team but took a 36th-minute lead through Samuel Eto'o.

The goal was the Cameroon striker's 26th of the season, making him the winner of the league's scoring chart with one more than Valencia's David Villa.

Bilbao rallied after halftime through midfielder Andoni Iraola, substitute Felipe Gurendez and Oleguer Presas' own-goal.

The last match of the season had been rescheduled after FIFA allowed the Spanish league to surpass the May 15 deadline - intended to allow players preparation time for the June 9-July 9 World Cup.

However, Barcelona wasn't allowed to play with the 11 players picked for the tournament - Spain's Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, Brazil's Ronaldinho and Edmilson, Netherlands' Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Mark van Bommel, Sweden's Henrik Larsson, Argentina's Lionel Messi, Portugal's Deco, and Mexico's Rafael Marquez.

Barcelona, which won its second straight league title on May 3, ended the season with 82 points. Real Madrid finished with 70 and Valencia 69. Osasuna and Sevilla ended with 68 but Osasuna finished higher due to head-to-head results.

Alaves, Cadiz and Malaga were relegated.

With all of the season's issues already finalised, the game was academic although Bilbao's San Mames stadium was filled close to its 40,000 capacity.

Bilbao players took the field carrying a banner saying "Thank you" in Basque in recognition of its fans' support during a poor season in which it came close to suffering the first relegation in its history.

Thanks to a recent run of good form, Bilbao finished 12th with 45 points.

Eto'o, who scored the equaliser in Barcelona's 2-1 win over Arsenal in Paris, was whistled with every touch of the ball by the crowd after he allegedly spat at Bilbao defender Exposito Unai in the teams' first meeting of the season in January.

However, the striker opened the scoring with a powerful shot from just outside the penalty area from a pass by debutant Ludovic Sylvestre.

Midfielder Andoni Iraola sidefooted Bilbao's equaliser in the 57th after Fernando Llorente laid the ball into his path.

Felipe Gurendez, playing his final match for Bilbao, scored in the 80th with a volley from the edge of the area, with Oleguer inadvertently netting the third goal two minutes later when he deflected a low cross from the left by Joseba Etxeberria.

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