Valencia scored twice in the space of five second-half minutes as they came from behind to beat LaLiga champions Barcelona 3-1, although it was not enough to earn them European qualification on the final day of the season.
Robert Lewandowski marked his final Barcelona appearance with a goal as the veteran Poland striker put the champions ahead just after the hour mark.
But only five minutes later Javi Guerra levelled for the hosts with a nice finish, and four minutes after that they were ahead.
Following neat work from Jesús Vázquez, Guerra saw his shot charged down but the ball fell for Luis Rioja who fired a left-footed shot beyond Wojciech Szczesny.
Valencia then thought they had a penalty when Marc Bernal brought down Vázquez, but a VAR check showed the incident happened outside the box.
Instead, the third goal arrived deep into stoppage time when Guido Rodríguez found the net from outside the box.
The hosts hung on to claim the three points, but Getafe’s win over Osasuna and Rayo Vallecano’s victory at Alaves kept them out of the European places.
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Before the match Valencia fans held protests calling on owner Peter Lim to leave the club, but they would have been more encouraged by what they saw on the pitch as their side fought to keep hopes of European football alive.
Hugo Duro, Rioja and Unai Núñez all had early chances before Diego López fired wide, while it took a big block from Ronald Araújo to deny López again late in the first half.
Alejandro Balde fired into the side netting for Barcelona, who then went the closest of either side late in the first half when Lewandowski headed against an upright.
However, the half ended with Valencia threatening once more as Núñez brought a good save out of Szczesny.
The hosts suffered a damaging blow early in the second half when Lopez was forced off with what appeared to be a painful knee injury.
And they then fell behind just after the hour. Ferran Torres’ volleyed strike was heading wide but the alert Lewandowski diverted it goalwards for his 119th Barcelona goal in his four seasons with the club.
Valencia wanted a penalty when Núñez went down moments later but their protests were waved away.
Only two minutes later they were level as Guerra picked up the ball on the edge of the box and feinted left before beating Szczesny.
Before Barcelona could gather themselves, they were behind. Vázquez set up Guerra for a strike at goal, and when that was blocked the ball fell for Rioja to fire in.
VAR’s intervention denied Valencia a penalty and kept Barcelona in the match, but Stole Dimitrievski made two excellent saves to block efforts from Andreas Christensen before Rodríguez had the final word when he caught Szczesny cold with his powerful strike.
