David Villa struck twice as Valencia easily beat Athletic Bilbao to seal Spain's last Europa League place.
Valencia are in financial trouble and look set to cash in on Villa, their prized asset, in the summer.
And if the Spain striker does leave, he will at least have given the Mestalla faithful a farewell to remember as he struck both of Valencia's goals to end the season with 28 strikes, four behind league top-scorer Diego Forlan.
Valencia began the day in sixth place and needed to avoid defeat against Athletic in order to finish above Deportivo La Coruna and seal the last Europa League place.
Unai Emery's side looked set to snatch fourth place just several weeks ago, but saw their Champions League aspirations evaporate following defeats to direct rivals Atletico Madrid and Villarreal in the last two matches.
They were determined not to miss out on Europe altogether, though, and went ahead after just seven minutes in this match, when Villa latched onto Joaquin's cross and fired clinically past Gorka Iraizoz from close range.
That same combination almost brought a second goal four minutes later, but Villa failed to make decent contact this time.
Valencia were all over Athletic, though, and a second goal looked imminent.
Villa, Edu and Pablo Hernandez all came close as the home side piled on the pressure in the lead-up to half-time, but Athletic somehow managed to get to the interval just a goal down.
The Basques were already safe from relegation ahead of this match and had also secured a place in the Europa League, thanks to their passage to the final of the Copa del Rey.
Despite losing the final - which was also played at Mestalla - 4-1 to Barcelona, the Basques progressed to Europe thanks to the Catalans' participation in next season's Champions League.
Edu was denied by Gorka as Valencia continued to dominate after the break.
But Valencia also had their goalkeeper to thank in the following minutes.
Cesar did brilliantly to deny Ion Velez in a one-on-one situation and came out bravely to clear the ball off Fernando Llorente on the hour.
Normal service was resumed after that and Valencia peppered the Athletic goal in the final stages.
Gorka made fine saves to deny Edu and Villa, and the latter also shot straight at the Athletic keeper with five minutes left.
But the Spain striker wrapped up the points for Valencia in the final minute when he swept home Pablo's cross following a quick breakaway attack.
Fernando Morientes and Curro Torres, whose departures this summer have already been confirmed, came on late on to warm applause from the Valencia faithful.
But there was also a feeling that Villa will not reappear in the club's colours and the striker was given an emotional send-off by the home crowd after the game.
Valencia finish what has been a tumultuous season in sixth place, although big changes look set to take place at the club this summer.
Athletic, meanwhile, end the campaign with 44 points, and are in 13th place ahead of tomorrow's games.
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