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MADRID, Spain -- Athletic Bilbao secured its return to the Champions League next season by winning 3-0 at Rayo Vallecano on Friday to lock up a fourth-place finish in the Spanish league. With Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona destined to take the top three spots, Bilbao fended off Sevillas late surge to seal its return to Europes top-tier competition for the first time since the 1998-99 season. The Basque side qualified for the playoff round to reach the group phase. "When I think back on how difficult this year has been, on how much we have won and lost, and to see this now, we have to enjoy it," Bilbao defender Mikel San Jose said while his teammates celebrated with a large group of their travelling fans. Bilbaos quest of reaching the Champions League was led by coach Ernesto Valverde, a former player who returned to coach the club a second time this summer after the exit of Marcelo Bielsa. Bilbao kept Rayos attack in check while taking advantage of a number of well-executed set pieces. After Mikel Rico and Aritz Aduriz both went close with shots resulting from corner kicks, San Jose acrobatically tapped in a ball from Markel Susaeta in the 20th minute to open the scoring. Forward Oscar de Marcos added a second goal 10 minutes later when he fired in a loose ball from a fourth corner kick, and Ander Herrera curled his free kick around the defensive wall and in off the post in the 74th to cap the win. The match in Madrid was twice delayed due to incidents involving both groups of supporters. The kickoff was 15 minutes late to let the Vallecas Stadium grounds crew clean up a large amount of paper bits Rayos home fans threw onto the pitch while festively celebrating before the game. The game was briefly stopped a second time after a barrier collapse in front of a section of Bilbao supporters following their teams second goal. TV images showed one man with what appeared to be a cut on his head. Another man needed to be carried off the pitch while he held his foot. Jordan Scarpe Sconti . -- The Oakland Raiders expect to have starting right tackle Tony Pashos back for Sundays game against the Houston Texans. Scarpe Jordan a Poco Prezzo .C. - Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says Danny Granger, Chris Andersen and Udonis Haslem are still not ready to play and will miss Wednesday nights game against the Charlotte Hornets. http://www.airjordanscontate.it/. Carcillo was a little of both for New York in Game 3. Derek Stepan, Martin St. Louis, Dan Girardi and Carcillo scored goals, leading the Rangers to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night. Air Jordan Scarpe Saldi . The three goals bring Messis career tally for Barcelona to 371 in all games -- including friendlies -- breaking the club record of 369 held by Paulino Alcantara since 1927. The 26-year-old Messi was already the clubs all-time leading scorer in official games. Messi assured Barcelonas fans they will enjoy his goals for years to come, saying "as long as people want me, I will stay here. Scarpe Jordan Ingrosso . -- Joe Thornton scored the tiebreaking goal with 5:39 left in regulation to help the San Jose Sharks overcome a two-goal deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 on Thursday night.TORONTO -- David Clarkson wouldnt blame John Scott or anyone else. Not this time. More than 48 hours after leaving the bench to enter the line brawl between his Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres to come to the defence of teammate Phil Kessel, a contrite Clarkson accepted his automatic, 10-game suspension even while justifying his actions. "Im a grown man and Im going to take this one for what I did and be held accountable," Clarkson said. "Im not appealing it. Im going to take it, and Im going to work hard to get back." Clarkson broke his silence after playing in the Leafs 3-2 pre-season loss to the Ottawa Senators, apologizing for not addressing the situation before. The 29-year-old right-winger said he wanted to wait to get official word from the NHL about the suspension and then didnt want to be a distraction on a game day. It was another case of Clarkson trying to do what he figured was right for the team. When he did that Sunday night upon seeing Sabres tough guy John Scott going after Kessel, it got him into this mess that will cost him almost $270,000. "I think I sometimes make decisions with my heart, not my head," Clarkson said. "I saw a teammate that I felt was in trouble, and my reaction was to help. You can have many different opinions, but that was my mind-set going in. I was just going there to go to help and settle things down. That was the intent." Teammates admired Clarksons intent, so much so that he said everyone in the locker room expressed support for sticking up for Kessel. There was no hesitation in leaving the bench to leap to the aid of someone Clarkson has only called a teammate since July. It was simply a gut instinct, albeit a very costly one. "Its like if you have a little brother and you feel like hes in trouble or you feel like theres a situation you can get out and help," Clarkson said. "That was the feeling I had in my belly. I had feeling to do something, and Ive got to pay the consequences for it. That was the feeling, it was to go out aand to try and help or to calm down a situation and now Ill serve my 10 games and come back better for it.dddddddddddd" Clarkson never conceded regret about a "split-second" decision. He never said the result would have been different if he had to replay the incident over again. "The part that sucks is that Im missing these games," he said. "But at the same time I think defending teammates is something thats just in me. Its what Ive done my whole life and I think that the 10 games thing obviously is tough to swallow, but when theres rules out there in place, youve got to abide by them." Coach Randy Carlyle, whom Clarkson said has been "supportive" since the brawl happened and the suspension was handed down, called the rationale "more of an old-time hockey explanation." Clarkson brings the kind of tools that make him a throwback player, but this wasnt what the Leafs signed up for when they gave him a seven-year, US$36.75-million contract. But Carlyle said earlier Tuesday that he can sense the "burning desire" Clarkson has to make a difference. Its one he wont be able to do on the ice until Torontos 11th game Oct. 25 at the Columbus Blue Jackets. "Ill say sorry to the fans or anybody whos disappointed, but I was going out there and what I felt like (was) my teammates in here are first to me," Clarkson said. "Thats whats gotten me to where I am in my career, thats why I believe Im here. I think thats just the person I am. If anyone was in trouble in here, I would try to go to help and that was what I did." Until he can make his regular-season debut, Clarkson resigned himself to being "the biggest cheerleader" he can be. Oct. 25 feels "very far" away. "This is one of the toughest things Ive been through in my career, especially being excited to be somewhere, just getting used to things," he said. "But no one in life is perfect, and when you make a mistake youve got to live up to it and deal with it." ' ' '