Guardiola bids farewell to La Liga with draw

MADRID – Ten-man Barcelona needed an injury-time goal to secure a 2-2 draw at Real Betis on Saturday in coach Pep Guardiola’s final La Liga game in charge.

Sunday, May 13, 2012
Barcelona's coach Josep Guardiola reacts during his last Spanish League match against Real Betis on Saturday. Net photo.

MADRID – Ten-man Barcelona needed an injury-time goal to secure a 2-2 draw at Real Betis on Saturday in coach Pep Guardiola’s final La Liga game in charge.Sergi Busquets got an early goal for the Catalans before they had Dani Alves sent-off early in the second-half.Ruben Castro took full advantage of the numerical difference to score twice for Betis in the final 20 minutes, leaving Guardiola staring at defeat until Seydou Keita headed in an equaliser in the dying moments.The departing coach can look back with satisfaction on four seasons in which he has won 13 trophies including three leagues titles before Real Madrid triumphed this season.His final game will be on May 25 when his side take on Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Cup final. "I have no idea what memories I leave the league with. I hope they are good ones that last a long time,” said Guardiola."But I don’t think the league will miss me too much, it was here before me and will continue after me.” Lionel Messi was unable to add to his 50 league goals on a quiet night for the Argentine.In Saturday night’s other game, third-placed Valencia slumped to a 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad. It was also the final game for Valencia coach Unai Emery who confirmed this week that he will be coaching Spartak Moscow next season.Valencia’s defeat means they finish the season with a record low number of points for a third-placed team.