Almeria, Malaga, Las Palmas and Castellon to fight for last 1st-division spot in Spain

MADRID (AP) — Almeria, Malaga, Las Palmas and Castellon qualified for the promotion playoffs in the second division of the Spanish league on Sunday.

>They will fight for the final spot in the top tier to join already promoted Racing Santander and Deportivo La Coruña. Racing won the second division, with second-place Deportivo securing the last automatic spot.

>Deportivo, the first-division winner in 2000, made it back after an eight-year absence, while Racing will play in the first division for the first time since 2011-12.

>The teams placed third through sixth after 42 rounds will take part in the two-legged playoffs. Almeria finished third and will face sixth-place Castellon, while fourth-place Malaga will play fifth-place Las Palmas.

>Las Palmas secured its spot by beating Deportivo 2-1 on the road on Sunday, while Almeria won 1-0 against Valladolid. Malaga won 2-0 at Zaragoza and Castellon defeated Eibar 2-1 at home.