Sitting rock bottom at Christmas, Valencia fans wouldn’t have believed that their side would go into the final two matchdays battling for European qualification rather than safety in the division.
But despite defeat to Alavés last time out making things tricky, that’s exactly the effect Carlos Corberán has had, and Luis Rioja’s near-post drive was saved by Unai Simón as Valencia looked to muster the first of two wins likely required to sneak into a UEFA Conference League berth.
Already guaranteed a place in the Champions League themselves, Athletic’s ambitions were purely to secure fourth place and qualify for the Spanish Super Cup, something which Gorka Guruzeta was clearly after as his inventive backheel faded just beyond the post.
There wasn’t too much more penalty-area action in the first half, although Oihan Sancet’s free-kick was deflected dangerously over via Javi Guerra’s back a few minutes before the break.
The restart brought more life to proceedings, and Giorgi Mamardashvili was made to work for the first time by Guruzeta’s header.
Another spell of subdued football followed, but the silence was finally broken in the 72nd minute when Berenguer came inside on his right foot and curled a beautiful effort into the far top corner from all of 25 yards – his first in 24 appearances.
Unai Gómez then prodded too close to Mamardashvili to cause the Georgian international too much trouble, but his failure to find a second ultimately proved inconsequential.
Athletic’s fifth victory in seven league matches meant that the Lions sealed a fourth-place finish – their joint-best ranking in LaLiga since the 1997/98 season.
While the picture is slightly bleaker for Valencia, who can no longer qualify for Europe, they still have much to look forward to next season with Corberán at the helm.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Álex Berenguer (Athletic Club)