Madrid, Apr 29 (IANS): Racing Santander became the first team to be relegated from the Spanish Primera Liga to the second division after they were defeated 0-3 away by Real Sociedad.

The result means Racing have no chance of climbing out of the bottom three, while the win, which came thanks to two goals from Antoine Griezmann and a strike from Imanol Agirretxe, means that Real Sociedad are safe from the drop with three games left to play, Xinhua reported.

Sporting Gijon kept their chances of avoiding relegation alive with a 3-1 win away to Espanyol. Second half goals from Adrian Colunga, Oscar Trejo and Mate Bilic gave them a vital win, while at the same time virtually ending Espanyol's chances of playing in Europe next season.

Getafe also waved goodbye to their European hopes with a 1-3 thrashing at home by Mallorca. Victor Casadesus, Alejandro Alfaro and Tomed Hemed had put Mallorca 3-0 up before Alexis netted a late consolation for the home side.

Meanwhile Levante took a big step towards a top six finish by beating Granada 3-1. Aruna Kone opened the scoring just after halftime and although Odion Ighalo equalized soon afterwards, Xabi Torres and Valdo sealed the win to keep Levante fifth.