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
TeamVenueCapacity AlmeríaEstadio del Mediterráneo22,000Athletic BilbaoSan Mamés39,750 Atlético MadridVicente Calderón54,851 BarcelonaCamp Nou98,772 BetisManuel Ruiz de Lopera52,132 DeportivoRiazor34,600 EspanyolEstadi Olímpic Lluís Companys55,926 GetafeColiseum Alfonso Pérez16,300 MálagaLa Rosaleda35,530 MallorcaONO Estadi23,142 NumanciaLos Pajaritos9,700 OsasunaEstadio Reyno de Navarra19,553 Racing SantanderEl Sardinero22,400 Real MadridSantiago Bernabéu80,354 RecreativoNuevo Colombino21,600 SevillaRamón Sánchez Pizjuán45,500 SportingEl Molinón25,885 ValenciaMestalla55,000 ValladolidEstadio José Zorrilla26,512 VillarrealEl Madrigal23,000
Personnel and sponsoring TeamChairmanHead CoachKit manufacturerShirt sponsor (front)Shirt sponsor (back)Shirt sponsor (sleeve)Shorts sponsor AlmeríaAlfonso García Hugo SánchezUDAObrascampo/isladelfraile.com/Corredor de VidaAndalucíaNoneNoneAthletic BilbaoFernando García Joaquín Caparrós100% AthleticPetronorNoneNoneNoneEnrique Cerezo Abel ResinoNikeKiaKyoceraNonePaf BarcelonaJoan Laporta Pep GuardiolaNikeUNICEFNoneTV3None BetisPepe LeónKappaAndalucíaNoneNoneNone DeportivoAugusto LendoiroEstrella GaliciaNoneNoneNone Espanyol Mauricio PochettinouhlsportInterapuestas.comTrina SolarTV3Abasol GetafeÁngel Torres MíchelJomaGrupo GalcoThecamSDS SeguridadEADS CASA, Antonio y Ricardo MálagaFernando Sanz Antonio TapiaUmbroMálaga Ciudad GenialAndalucíaTesesaInstituto de Fertilidad Clínicas Rincón, Málaga Hoy MallorcaMateu Alemany Gregorio ManzanoReialIlles Balears/Viajes IberiaConstrucciones Llabrés FeliuIB3Illes Balears NumanciaFrancisco GarcésErreaCaja DueroAreniscas StoneCleanBirdCastilla y León es Vida OsasunaPatxi IzcoDiadoraYingli SolarNGS TechnologyCaja NavarraReyno de Navarra, NGS TechnologyFrancisco Pernía López MuñizJomaNoneNoneNoneNone Real MadridVicente Boluda Juande RamosAdidasBwin.comNoneNoneNone RecreativoFrancisco Mendoza Lucas AlcarazCejudoCajasolAndalucíaToyota NiponubaCondado de Huelva, Fresón de Palos SevillaJosé María del Nido Manolo JiménezJoma888.comAndalucíaNO8DONone SportingManuel Vega-Arango Manolo PreciadoAstoreGijón, AsturiasVegasolAsturias Paraíso Natural, Deporte AsturianoAsturias Paraíso Natural, Deporte Asturiano ValenciaVicente Soriano Unai EmeryNikeValencia Experience, UnibetCompac EncimerasCanal NouNone Valladolid José Luis MendilibarPumaCaja DueroPepetravel.comNoneDel Cura y Miranda AXA, Castilla y León es Vida VillarrealFernando Roig Manuel PellegriniPumaAeroport CastellóNoneCanal NouNone
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 13 October 2008 José Antonio Camacho 13 October 2008 16th Espanyol Tintín Márquez 30 November 2008 José Manuel Esnal 1 December 2008 17th Real Madrid Bernd Schuster 9 December 2008 Juande Ramos 9 December 2008 5th Almería Gonzalo Arconada 21 December 2008 Hugo Sánchez 22 December 2008 16th Espanyol José Manuel Esnal 20 January 2009 Mauricio Pochettino 20 January 2009 18th Atlético Madrid Javier Aguirre 2 February 2009 Abel Resino 2 February 2009 7th Numancia Sergije Krešić 17 February 2009 Pacheta 17 February 2009 19th Betis Paco Chaparro 6 April 2009 José María Nogués 6 April 2009 16th Getafe Víctor Muñoz 27 April 2009 Míchel 27 April 2009 17th
League table
Results
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.
AwardRecipientBest 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) Team of the Year
Team of the Year Goalkeeper Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) Defenders Dani Alves (Barcelona) Carles Puyol (Barcelona) Filipe Luís (Deportivo La Coruña) Midfielders Jesús Navas (Sevilla) Xavi (Barcelona) Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona) Gonzalo Higuaín (Real Madrid) Forwards Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Diego Forlán (Atlético Madrid) David Villa (Valencia)
Pichichi Trophy The Pichichi Trophy is awarded to the player who scores the most goals in a season. Rank Player Club Goals1 Diego Forlán Atlético Madrid322 Samuel Eto'o Barcelona303 David Villa Valencia284 Lionel Messi Barcelona235 Gonzalo Higuaín Real Madrid226 Thierry Henry Barcelona19 Álvaro Negredo Almería8 Frédéric Kanouté Sevilla18 Raúl Real Madrid10 Sergio Agüero Atlético Madrid17
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.
RankPlayerClubGoals againstMatchesAverage1 Víctor Valdés Barcelona31350.892 Andrés Palop Sevilla35351.003 Daniel Aranzubia Deportivo La Coruña45371.224 Toño Racing Santander41331.245 Carlos Kameni Espanyol47371.27 Source: LFP
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 XaviBarcelona202 Juan MataValencia133 DudaMálaga11 Lionel MessiBarcelona5 Diego ForlánAtlético Madrid10 Pedro MunitisRacing Santander7 Sergio AgüeroAtlético Madrid9 Dani AlvesBarcelona Juan ArangoMallorca Fernando GagoReal Madrid Gonzalo HiguaínReal Madrid José Manuel JuradoMallorca Jesús NavasSevilla Robert PiresVillarreal Source: ESPN Soccernet
Fair Play award
Rank Club Points1 Barcelona 982Deportivo La Coruña 1023Villarreal 1104Recreativo Huelva 1135Valladolid 1146Numancia 131Valencia8Almería 1329Getafe 13310Espanyol 13411Mallorca 13512Atlético Madrid 136Sevilla14Málaga 13915Osasuna 148Real Madrid17Athletic Bilbao 14918Racing Santander 16419Real Betis 16520Sporting 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 Reference 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 Higuaín4 Real Madrid Málaga 4–3 (H) 8 November 2008 Samuel Eto'o4 Barcelona Valladolid 6–0 (H) 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)
Attendances Source:
No. Club Average Change Highest 1 FC Barcelona 71,947 -5.6% 98,700 2 Real Madrid CF 71,328 5.6% 79,500 3 Atlético de Madrid 44,605 -1.4% 57,500 4 Sevilla FC 41,507 4.9% 45,500 5 Valencia CF 38,263 -6.0% 50,000 6 Real Betis 37,137 -0.8% 50,000 7 Athletic Club 35,000 -3.5% 40,000 8 Málaga CF 24,849 24.2% 30,000 9 RCD Espanyol 23,832 9.0% 35,000 10 Real Sporting de Gijón 22,945 36.8% 25,000 11 Villarreal CF 19,159 -1.2% 25,000 12 Real Racing Club de Santander 18,555 5.9% 22,200 13 Deportivo de La Coruña 18,316 2.9% 34,000 14 CA Osasuna 17,823 3.5% 19,031 15 Real Valladolid 17,417 -1.2% 23,600 16 Recreativo de Huelva 16,334 -6.0% 19,000 17 RCD Mallorca 15,184 -14.9% 22,000 18 UD Almería 12,715 -18.3% 18,000 19 Getafe CF 10,500 -1.5% 16,000 20 CD Numancia 8,096 60.4% 9,500
See also List of Spanish football transfers summer 2008 List of Spanish football transfers winter 2008–09 2008–09 Segunda División 2008–09 Copa del Rey
References
External links