# 2008–09 La Liga

The 2008–09 La Liga season (known as the Liga BBVA for sponsorship reasons) was the 78th since its establishment. Real Madrid were the defending champions, having won their 31st La Liga title in the previous season. The campaign began on 30 August 2008, and concluded on 31 May 2009. A total of 20 teams contested the league, 17 of which already contested in the 2007–08 season, and three of which were promoted from the Segunda División. A new match ball – the Nike T90 Omni – served as the official ball for all matches.
On 16 May 2009, following Villarreal's 3–2 victory over Real Madrid, Barcelona were declared champions, winning their 19th La Liga title, with three matches to play. Barcelona's Lionel Messi received the inaugural La Liga Award for Best Player from the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional.

## Promotion and relegation

Real Zaragoza, Real Murcia and Levante were relegated to the 2008–09 Segunda División after finishing in the bottom three spots of the table at the end of the 2007–08 La Liga. Zaragoza were relegated to the Segunda División after five seasons of continuous membership in the top football league of Spain; Levante returned in Segunda División after two-year tenured in La Liga; and Murcia made their immediate return to the second level.
The three relegated teams were replaced by three 2007–08 Segunda División sides. Champions Numancia, who ended their second-level status after three years, runners-up Málaga, who returned to the top flight after two season in the second level, and Sporting de Gijón returned to the highest Spanish league after ten years.

## Team information
### Stadia and locations

| Team | Venue | Capacity |
| Almería | Estadio del Mediterráneo | 22,000 |
| Athletic Bilbao | San Mamés | 39,750 |
| Atlético Madrid | Vicente Calderón | 54,851 |
| Barcelona | Camp Nou | 98,772 |
| Betis | Manuel Ruiz de Lopera | 52,132 |
| Deportivo | Riazor | 34,600 |
| Espanyol | Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys | 55,926 |
| Getafe | Coliseum Alfonso Pérez | 16,300 |
| Málaga | La Rosaleda | 35,530 |
| Mallorca | ONO Estadi | 23,142 |
| Numancia | Los Pajaritos | 9,700 |
| Osasuna | Estadio Reyno de Navarra | 19,553 |
| Racing Santander | El Sardinero | 22,400 |
| Real Madrid | Santiago Bernabéu | 80,354 |
| Recreativo | Nuevo Colombino | 21,600 |
| Sevilla | Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán | 45,500 |
| Sporting | El Molinón | 25,885 |
| Valencia | Mestalla | 55,000 |
| Valladolid | Estadio José Zorrilla | 26,512 |
| Villarreal | El Madrigal | 23,000 |

### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Chairman | Head Coach | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor (front) | Shirt sponsor (back) | Shirt sponsor (sleeve) | Shorts sponsor |
| Almería | Alfonso García | Hugo Sánchez | UDA | Obrascampo/isladelfraile.com/Corredor de Vida | Andalucía | None | None |
| Athletic Bilbao | Fernando García | Joaquín Caparrós | 100% Athletic | Petronor | None | None | None |
| Atlético Madrid | Enrique Cerezo | Abel Resino | Nike | Kia | Kyocera | None | Paf |
| Barcelona | Joan Laporta | Pep Guardiola | Nike | UNICEF | None | TV3 | None |
| Betis | Pepe León | José María Nogués | Kappa | Andalucía | None | None | None |
| Deportivo | Augusto Lendoiro | Miguel Ángel Lotina | Canterbury of New Zealand | Estrella Galicia | None | None | None |
| Espanyol | Daniel Sánchez Llibre | Mauricio Pochettino | uhlsport | Interapuestas.com | Trina Solar | TV3 | Abasol |
| Getafe | Ángel Torres | Míchel | Joma | Grupo Galco | Thecam | SDS Seguridad | EADS CASA, Antonio y Ricardo |
| Málaga | Fernando Sanz | Antonio Tapia | Umbro | Málaga Ciudad Genial | Andalucía | Tesesa | Instituto de Fertilidad Clínicas Rincón, Málaga Hoy |
| Mallorca | Mateu Alemany | Gregorio Manzano | Reial | Illes Balears/Viajes Iberia | Construcciones Llabrés Feliu | IB3 | Illes Balears |
| Numancia | Francisco Garcés | Juan José Rojo Martín | Errea | Caja Duero | Areniscas Stone | CleanBird | Castilla y León es Vida |
| Osasuna | Patxi Izco | José Antonio Camacho | Diadora | Yingli Solar | NGS Technology | Caja Navarra | Reyno de Navarra, NGS Technology |
| Racing Santander | Francisco Pernía | López Muñiz | Joma | None | None | None | None |
| Real Madrid | Vicente Boluda | Juande Ramos | Adidas | Bwin.com | None | None | None |
| Recreativo | Francisco Mendoza | Lucas Alcaraz | Cejudo | Cajasol | Andalucía | Toyota Niponuba | Condado de Huelva, Fresón de Palos |
| Sevilla | José María del Nido | Manolo Jiménez | Joma | 888.com | Andalucía | NO8DO | None |
| Sporting | Manuel Vega-Arango | Manolo Preciado | Astore | Gijón, Asturias | Vegasol | Asturias Paraíso Natural, Deporte Asturiano | Asturias Paraíso Natural, Deporte Asturiano |
| Valencia | Vicente Soriano | Unai Emery | Nike | Valencia Experience, Unibet | Compac Encimeras | Canal Nou | None |
| Valladolid | Carlos Suárez Sureda | José Luis Mendilibar | Puma | Caja Duero | Pepetravel.com | None | Del Cura y Miranda AXA, Castilla y León es Vida |
| Villarreal | Fernando Roig | Manuel Pellegrini | Puma | Aeroport Castelló | None | Canal Nou | None |
* Barcelona had no shirt sponsor during the 2008–09 season. Instead, following the signing of a five-year agreement with the humanitarian organisation UNICEF in 2006, the club sported the UNICEF logo on the front of its jersey while making an annual donation to the organisation.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Recreativo | Manolo Zambrano | Sacked | 7 October 2008 | Lucas Alcaraz | 7 October 2008 | 18th |
| Osasuna | José Ángel Ziganda | Sacked | 13 October 2008 | José Antonio Camacho | 13 October 2008 | 16th |
| Espanyol | Tintín Márquez | Sacked | 30 November 2008 | José Manuel Esnal | 1 December 2008 | 17th |
| Real Madrid | Bernd Schuster | Sacked | 9 December 2008 | Juande Ramos | 9 December 2008 | 5th |
| Almería | Gonzalo Arconada | Sacked | 21 December 2008 | Hugo Sánchez | 22 December 2008 | 16th |
| Espanyol | José Manuel Esnal | Sacked | 20 January 2009 | Mauricio Pochettino | 20 January 2009 | 18th |
| Atlético Madrid | Javier Aguirre | Sacked | 2 February 2009 | Abel Resino | 2 February 2009 | 7th |
| Numancia | Sergije Krešić | Sacked | 17 February 2009 | Pacheta | 17 February 2009 | 19th |
| Betis | Paco Chaparro | Sacked | 6 April 2009 | José María Nogués | 6 April 2009 | 16th |
| Getafe | Víctor Muñoz | Sacked | 27 April 2009 | Míchel | 27 April 2009 | 17th |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Barcelona (C) | 38 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 105 | 35 | +70 | 87 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 38 | 25 | 3 | 10 | 83 | 52 | +31 | 78 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Sevilla | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 54 | 39 | +15 | 70 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Atlético Madrid | 38 | 20 | 7 | 11 | 80 | 57 | +23 | 67 | Qualification for the Champions League play-off round |
| 5 | Villarreal | 38 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 61 | 54 | +7 | 65 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round |
| 6 | Valencia | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 68 | 54 | +14 | 62 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round |
| 7 | Deportivo La Coruña | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 48 | 47 | +1 | 58 | |
| 8 | Málaga | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 55 | 59 | −4 | 55 | |
| 9 | Mallorca | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 53 | 60 | −7 | 51 | |
| 10 | Espanyol | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 46 | 49 | −3 | 47 | |
| 11 | Almería | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 45 | 61 | −16 | 46 | |
| 12 | Racing Santander | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 49 | 48 | +1 | 46 | |
| 13 | Athletic Bilbao | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 47 | 62 | −15 | 44 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round |
| 14 | Sporting Gijón | 38 | 14 | 1 | 23 | 47 | 79 | −32 | 43 | |
| 15 | Osasuna | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 41 | 47 | −6 | 43 | |
| 16 | Valladolid | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 46 | 58 | −12 | 43 | |
| 17 | Getafe | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 50 | 56 | −6 | 42 | |
| 18 | Real Betis (R) | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 51 | 58 | −7 | 42 | Relegation to the Segunda División |
| 19 | Numancia (R) | 38 | 10 | 5 | 23 | 38 | 69 | −31 | 35 | Relegation to the Segunda División |
| 20 | Recreativo Huelva (R) | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 34 | 57 | −23 | 33 | Relegation to the Segunda División |
* 1 2 ALM 1–1 RAC; RAC 0–2 ALM
* ↑ Since Barcelona, winners of the 2008–09 Copa del Rey, already qualified for the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League, losing cup finalists Athletic Bilbao earned a spot in the third qualifying round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.
* 1 2 3 SPG: 12 pts; OSA: 2 pts → OSA 3–3 VLD; VLD: 2 pts → VLD 0–0 OSA
* 1 2 GET 0–0 BET; BET 2–2 GET
* La Liga 2008–09 winners
* Barcelona 19th title

## Results

| Home \ Away | ALM | ATH | ATM | FCB | BET | RCD | ESP | GET | MCF | MLL | NUM | OSA | RAC | RMA | REC | SFC | RSG | VCF | VLD | VIL |
| Almería | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 3–0 |
| Athletic Bilbao | 1–3 | | 1–4 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–5 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–4 |
| Atlético Madrid | 3–0 | 2–3 | | 4–3 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–4 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 |
| Barcelona | 5–0 | 2–0 | 6–1 | | 3–2 | 5–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 6–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 6–0 | 3–3 |
| Betis | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| Deportivo La Coruña | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 5–3 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| Espanyol | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Getafe | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 5–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Málaga | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 |
| Mallorca | 2–0 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 |
| Numancia | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 1–2 |
| Osasuna | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 5–2 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 |
| Racing Santander | 0–2 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 5–0 | 1–1 | | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 |
| Real Madrid | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–6 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 4–3 | 1–3 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 3–4 | 7–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Recreativo | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 |
| Sevilla | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–4 | 1–0 | | 4–3 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 |
| Sporting Gijón | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–5 | 1–6 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Valencia | 3–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 | | 1–2 | 3–3 |
| Valladolid | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | | 0–0 |
| Villarreal | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–4 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–3 | |

## Awards
### La Liga Awards

For the first time in La Liga's history, its governing body, the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, honoured the competition's best players and coach with the La Liga Awards.
| Award | Recipient |
| Best Player | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) |
| Best Coach | Pep Guardiola (Barcelona) |
| Best Goalkeeper | Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) |
| Best Defender | Dani Alves (Barcelona) |
| Best Midfielder(s) | Xavi (Barcelona) Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona) |
| Best Forward | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) |

### Pichichi Trophy

The Pichichi Trophy is awarded to the player who scores the most goals in a season.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Diego Forlán | Atlético Madrid | 32 |
| 2 | Samuel Eto'o | Barcelona | 30 |
| 3 | David Villa | Valencia | 28 |
| 4 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 23 |
| 5 | Gonzalo Higuaín | Real Madrid | 22 |
| 6 | Thierry Henry | Barcelona | 19 |
| 6 | Álvaro Negredo | Almería | 19 |
| 8 | Frédéric Kanouté | Sevilla | 18 |
| 8 | Raúl | Real Madrid | 18 |
| 10 | Sergio Agüero | Atlético Madrid | 17 |
Source: Yahoo! Sport

### Zamora Trophy

The Ricardo Zamora Trophy is awarded by newspaper Marca to the goalkeeper with the lowest ratio of goals conceded to matches played. A goalkeeper had to play at least 28 matches of 60 or more minutes to be eligible for the trophy.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals against | Matches | Average |
| 1 | Víctor Valdés | Barcelona | 31 | 35 | 0.89 |
| 2 | Andrés Palop | Sevilla | 35 | 35 | 1.00 |
| 3 | Daniel Aranzubia | Deportivo La Coruña | 45 | 37 | 1.22 |
| 4 | Toño | Racing Santander | 41 | 33 | 1.24 |
| 5 | Carlos Kameni | Espanyol | 47 | 37 | 1.27 |
Source: LFP

### Top assists

| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| 1 | Xavi | Barcelona | 20 |
| 2 | Juan Mata | Valencia | 13 |
| 3 | Duda | Málaga | 11 |
| 3 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 11 |
| 5 | Diego Forlán | Atlético Madrid | 10 |
| 5 | Pedro Munitis | Racing Santander | 10 |
| 7 | Sergio Agüero | Atlético Madrid | 9 |
| 7 | Dani Alves | Barcelona | 9 |
| 7 | Juan Arango | Mallorca | 9 |
| 7 | Fernando Gago | Real Madrid | 9 |
| 7 | Gonzalo Higuaín | Real Madrid | 9 |
| 7 | José Manuel Jurado | Mallorca | 9 |
| 7 | Jesús Navas | Sevilla | 9 |
| 7 | Robert Pires | Villarreal | 9 |
* Source: ESPN Soccernet

### Fair Play award

| Rank | Club | Points |
| 1 | Barcelona | 98 |
| 2 | Deportivo La Coruña | 102 |
| 3 | Villarreal | 110 |
| 4 | Recreativo Huelva | 113 |
| 5 | Valladolid | 114 |
| 6 | Numancia | 131 |
| 6 | Valencia | 131 |
| 8 | Almería | 132 |
| 9 | Getafe | 133 |
| 10 | Espanyol | 134 |
| 11 | Mallorca | 135 |
| 12 | Atlético Madrid | 136 |
| 12 | Sevilla | 136 |
| 14 | Málaga | 139 |
| 15 | Osasuna | 148 |
| 15 | Real Madrid | 148 |
| 17 | Athletic Bilbao | 149 |
| 18 | Racing Santander | 164 |
| 19 | Real Betis | 165 |
| 20 | Sporting Gijón | 183 |
* Source: 2008–09 Fair Play Rankings Season.

## Scoring

* First goal of the season: Luis García for Espanyol against Valladolid (30 August 2008)
* Last goal of the season: Ricardo Oliveira for Real Betis against Valladolid (31 May 2009)

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Mate Bilić | Sporting Gijón | Sevilla | 3–4 (A) | 13 September 2008 |
| Rafael van der Vaart | Real Madrid | Sporting Gijón | 7–1 (H) | 24 September 2008 |
| Samuel Eto'o | Barcelona | Almería | 5–0 (H) | 25 October 2008 |
| Mohamed Tchité | Racing Santander | Valencia | 4–2 (A) | 1 November 2008 |
| Gonzalo Higuaín$^4$ | Real Madrid | Málaga | 4–3 (H) | 8 November 2008 |
| Samuel Eto'o$^4$ | Barcelona | Valladolid | 6–0 (H) | 8 November 2008 |
| Thierry Henry | Barcelona | Valencia | 4–0 (H) | 9 December 2008 |
| Roberto Soldado | Getafe | Sporting Gijón | 5–1 (H) | 25 January 2009 |
| Frédéric Kanouté | Sevilla | Valladolid | 4–1 (H) | 21 March 2009 |
| Raúl | Real Madrid | Sevilla | 4–2 (A) | 26 April 2009 |
| Diego Forlán | Atlético Madrid | Athletic Bilbao | 4–1 (A) | 23 May 2009 |
| Raúl Tamudo | Espanyol | Málaga | 3–0 (H) | 31 May 2009 |
$^4$ Player scored four goals(H) - Home; (A) - Away

### Discipline

* First yellow card of the season: Grégory Béranger for Espanyol against Valladolid (30 August 2008)
* First red card of the season: Diego Godín for Villarreal against Osasuna (31 August 2008)