After Deportivo La Coruna were beaten 4-2 by Barcelona on Sunday, thereby handing the Catalans their seventh La Liga title in the last 10 years, it meant that the third and final slot for relegation had been filled.

Clarence Seedorf’s team did put up a fight in the previous handful of games, and for at least 75 minutes of their game against Barca, but it was too little too late. The Galician needed to find that sort of form at least half-a-dozen games beforehand.

Pepe Mel was in charge at the beginning of the campaign but was dispensed with in late October. That’s despite having a reasonable record of two wins, two draws and four losses.

Step forward Cristobal Parralo. Just two wins in his four-month tenure was always going to see him depart, so when Seedorf took the reins in mid-February, everyone expected an immediate upturn.

Sadly, the opposite was true. The Dutchman wouldn’t pick up his first win until his ninth game in charge, but he quickly followed it with another, and two draws, but it was never going to be enough. They will join Las Palmas and Malaga in the Segunda Division next season.

Paco Jemez had largely accepted the Canary Islanders’ fate not long after he arrived. Jonathan Viera, one of his best players, was sold against his wishes, and those that remained weren’t putting in the requisite effort. “This is the worst team I’ve ever coached,” was Jemez’s cutting reply, when asked his opinion by journalists on the problems at the club.

Only one win in the last 14, and just three in the league since mid-September is an acknowledgement of just how poor they’ve been for the entire campaign. Not giving Quique Setien — now the coach of high-flying Betis — what he wanted, seems to be the worst decision the club’s board made.

Manolo Marquez and then Pako Ayesteran both came and went before Jemez was installed, and with such upheaval in the space of a few months, it’s no wonder the team were at sixes and sevens for the most part.

Malaga were the first team to be relegated. For them it was just a matter of when, not if. They wouldn’t win until their 10th league game of the season, of which they’d lost eight, drawing the other.

They’d get another three points two weeks later but then have to wait four months until they’d see another victory. How their coach Michel managed to keep his position for as long as he did is anyone’s guess.

Jose Gonzalez is the unfortunate incumbent that will be noted for taking them down, but it was all Michel’s own work. They’ll be replaced by three hungry sides, and with a handful of games still to play in the Segunda Division the promotion picture looks relatively clear, but, there’s still time for a team to make a late burst.

Rayo Vallecano and Sporting Gijon are two of the heavyweights in the division and they sit first and second on 70 and 68 points respectively. Huesca also have 68 in third.

There’s a small gap to Numancia on 61, Cadiz on 59 and Zaragoza, also on 59.

The top two know what it takes in the top flight and are arguably the best placed to survive should they go up.