The 2010–11 La Liga (known as the Liga BBVA for sponsorship reasons) was the 80th season of La Liga since its establishment. The campaign began on 28 August 2010, and concluded on 21 May 2011. A total of 20 teams contested the league, 17 of which already partook in the 2009–10 season, and three of which were promoted from the Segunda División. In addition, a new match ball – the Nike Total 90 Tracer – served as the official ball for all matches.
Defending champions Barcelona secured a third consecutive and overall 21st La Liga title following a 1–1 draw with Levante on 11 May 2011. The result gave Barcelona a six-point lead with two matches remaining which, combined with their superior head-to-head record against Real Madrid, ensured that they would finish top of the table. Barcelona led the table since defeating Real Madrid 5–0 on 23 November 2010. From that point onwards, they lost only one match en route to winning the title. Barcelona's Lionel Messi won La Liga's Award for Best Player for a third straight year.
The season was again dominated by Barcelona and Real Madrid, with second-place Madrid 21 points ahead of third-place Valencia. Having also faced off in the Champions League semi-finals and the Copa del Rey final, the top two rivals met four times over seventeen days, for a total of five meetings this season.
Teams Real Valladolid, CD Tenerife and Xerez CD were relegated to the Segunda División after finishing the 2009–10 season in the bottom three places. Tenerife and Xerez made their immediate return to the second level after just one year in the Spanish top flight, while Valladolid ended a three-year tenure in La Liga.
The relegated teams were replaced by 2009–10 Segunda División champions Real Sociedad from San Sebastián, runners-up Hércules CF from Alicante and Levante UD from Valencia. Hércules returned to the highest Spanish football league for the first time after 13 years, while Real Sociedad and Levante terminated their second-level status after three and two years, respectively.
Stadia and locations
Team Club home city Stadium Capacity Almería Almería Estadio del Mediterráneo 22,000 Athletic Bilbao Bilbao San Mamés 39,750 Atlético Madrid Madrid Vicente Calderón 54,851 Barcelona Barcelona Camp Nou 99,354 Deportivo La Coruña A Coruña Riazor 34,600 Espanyol Barcelona Estadi Cornellà-El Prat 40,500 Getafe Getafe Coliseum Alfonso Pérez 17,700 Hércules Alicante Estadio José Rico Pérez 30,000 Levante Valencia Estadi Ciutat de València 25,534 Málaga Málaga La Rosaleda 28,963 Mallorca Palma Iberostar 23,142 Osasuna Pamplona Estadio Reyno de Navarra 19,800 Racing Santander Santander El Sardinero 22,271 Real Madrid Madrid Santiago Bernabéu 80,354 Real Sociedad San Sebastián Estadio Anoeta 32,076 Sevilla Sevilla Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán 45,500 Sporting de Gijón Gijón El Molinón 29,800 Valencia Valencia Mestalla 55,000 Villarreal Vila-real El Madrigal 25,000 Zaragoza Zaragoza La Romareda 34,596
Personnel and sponsorship Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorShirt sponsor (back)Shirt sponsor (sleeve)Shorts sponsorAlmería Roberto Olabe José OrtizRasánUrcisol.comAndalucíaNoneNoneAthletic Bilbao Joaquín Caparrós Pablo OrbaizUmbroPetronorNoneDiputación Foral de VizcayaNoneAtlético Madrid Quique Sánchez Flores Antonio LópezNikeKiaKyoceraNonePafBarcelona Pep Guardiola Carles PuyolNikeUNICEFNoneTV3NoneDeportivo La Coruña Miguel Ángel Lotina Manuel PabloLottoEstrella GaliciaNoneNoneNoneEspanyol Mauricio Pochettino Iván de la PeñaLi-NingInterApuestas.comNoneTV3NoneGetafe Míchel Javier CasqueroJomaBurger KingNevirNoneMisterApuestas, IG MarketsHércules Miroslav Đukić Paco PeñaNikeComunitat ValencianaNoneNoneNoneLevante Luis García Plaza Sergio BallesterosLuanviComunitat ValencianaValència Terra i Mar - Diputació de València, MisterApuestas/BetVictorNoneGrupo Agora, MisterApuestas/BetVictorMálaga Manuel Pellegrini Francesc ArnauLi NingWilliamHill.comAndalucíaNoneMálaga Ciudad GenialMallorca Michael Laudrup NunesMacronbet-at-home.comAir Europaib-redMeliá Hoteles, Illes BalearsOsasuna José Luis Mendilibar Javad NekounamAstoreNoneNGS TechnologyCaja NavarraReyno de Navarra, NGS TechnologyRacing Santander Marcelino Pablo PinillosSLAMPalacios ChorizoCantabria InfinitaNoneNoneReal Madrid José Mourinho Iker CasillasAdidasBwin.comNoneNoneNoneReal Sociedad Martín Lasarte Mikel AranburuAstoreGipuzkoa Euskararekin BatKutxaNoneNoneSevilla Gregorio Manzano Andrés PalopJoma12BET.comAndalucíaNone12BET.comSporting de Gijón Manolo Preciado Rafel SastreAstoreGijón - AsturiasLas Delicias RestauranteAsturias Paraíso Natural, Deporte AsturianoAsturias Paraíso Natural, Gijón, Deporte AsturianoValencia Unai Emery VicenteKappaUnibetNoneNoneHerbalifeVillarreal Juan Carlos Garrido Marcos SennaPumaAeroport CastellóComunitat ValencianaCanal NouNoneZaragoza Javier Aguirre GabiAdidasProniñoNoneAragón TVNone Barcelona makes a donation to UNICEF in order to display the charity's logo on the club's kit.
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Replaced by Date of appointment Mallorca Gregorio Manzano End of contract 19 May 2010 Pre-season Michael Laudrup 2 July 2010 Real Madrid Manuel Pellegrini Sacked 26 May 2010 José Mourinho 28 May 2010 Málaga Juan Muñiz 16 June 2010 Jesualdo Ferreira 17 June 2010 Sevilla Antonio Álvarez 26 September 2010 7th Gregorio Manzano 26 September 2010 Málaga Jesualdo Ferreira 2 November 2010 18th Manuel Pellegrini 2 November 2010 Zaragoza José Aurelio Gay 17 November 2010 20th Javier Aguirre 17 November 2010 Almería Juanma Lillo 20 November 2010 19th José Luis Oltra 24 November 2010 Racing Santander Miguel Ángel Portugal 7 February 2011 16th Marcelino 9 February 2011 Osasuna José Antonio Camacho 14 February 2011 18th José Luis Mendilibar 14 February 2011 Hércules Esteban Vigo 20 March 2011 20th Miroslav Đukić 23 March 2011 Almería José Luis Oltra 5 April 2011 Roberto Olabe 5 April 2011
League table
Results
Awards La Liga Awards La Liga's governing body, the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, honoured the competition's best players and coach with Awards.
AwardRecipientBest Player Lionel Messi (Barcelona)Best Coach Pep Guardiola (Barcelona)Best Goalkeeper Víctor Valdés (Barcelona) Best Defender Eric Abidal (Barcelona)Best Midfielder(s) Xavi (Barcelona) Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)Best Forward Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Team of the Year Goalkeeper Víctor Valdés (Barcelona) Defenders Dani Alves (Barcelona) Gerard Piqué (Barcelona) Marcelo (Real Madrid) Midfielders Mesut Özil (Real Madrid) Ángel Di María (Real Madrid) Xavi (Barcelona) Borja Valero (Villarreal) Forwards Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Sergio Agüero (Atlético Madrid)
Top goalscorers
This is the list of goalscorers in accordance with the LFP as organising body.
Rank Player Club Goals1 Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid402 Lionel Messi Barcelona313 Sergio AgüeroAtlético Madrid20 Álvaro NegredoSevilla5 Fernando LlorenteAthletic Bilbao18 Giuseppe RossiVillarreal Roberto SoldadoValencia David VillaBarcelona9 Karim BenzemaReal Madrid1510 Salomón RondónMálaga14 Source: LFP, ESPN and Liga BBVA
Pichichi Trophy The Pichichi Trophy is awarded by newspaper Marca to the player who scores the most goals in a season, according to its own rules (different from the ones used by FIFA) to determine the goalscorer. Rank Player Club Goals Penalties1 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid4182 Lionel MessiBarcelona3143 Sergio AgüeroAtlético Madrid201 Álvaro NegredoSevilla35 Fernando LlorenteAthletic Bilbao180 Giuseppe RossiVillarreal4 Roberto SoldadoValencia1 David VillaBarcelona09 Karim BenzemaReal Madrid15010 Salomón RondónMálaga140
Source: Marca
Top assists
RankPlayerClubAssists1 Mesut ÖzilReal Madrid181 Lionel MessiBarcelona183 Dani AlvesBarcelona154 Xabi PrietoReal Sociedad135 Juan MataValencia126 Ángel Di MaríaReal Madrid117 Santi CazorlaVillarreal10 Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid9 ValdoLevante8 Borja ValeroVillarreal
Source: ESPN Soccernet
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 Barcelona16320.502 Iker CasillasReal Madrid32340.943 Dani AranzubiaDeportivo La Coruña36321.134 Diego LópezVillarreal44381.165 RicardoOsasuna46381.21
Source: futbol.sportec
Fair Play award This award was given annually since 1999 to the team with the best fair play during the season. This ranking took into account aspects such as cards, suspension of matches, audience behaviour and other penalties. This section not only aims to know this aspect, but also serves to break the tie in teams that are tied in all the other rules: points, head-to-head, goal difference and goals scored.
RankClubMatches Total PointsBarcelonaMallorcaRacing SantanderHérculesReal SociedadDeportivo La CoruñaReal MadridVillarrealAlmeríaAthletic BilbaoGetafeSporting GijónAtlético MadridEspanyolMálagaOsasunaSevillaLevanteValenciaZaragoza
Source: 2010–11 Fair Play Rankings Season.
Sources of cards and penalties: Referee's reports , Competition Committee's Sanctions, Appeal Committee Resolutions and RFEF's Directory about Fair Play Rankings
Pedro Zaballa award Real Madrid
Overall Most wins - Barcelona (30) Fewest wins - Almería (6) Most draws - Sporting Gijón (14) Fewest draws - Real Sociedad (3) Most losses - Real Sociedad and Hércules (21) Fewest losses - Barcelona (2) Most goals scored - Real Madrid (102) Fewest goals scored - Deportivo La Coruña (31) Most goals conceded - Almería (70) Fewest goals conceded - Barcelona (21)
Season statistics Scoring First goal of the season: Fernando Llorente for Athletic Bilbao against Hércules (28 August 2010). Last goal of the season: Kennedy Bakircioglu for Racing Santander against Athletic Bilbao (21 May 2011).
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Reference Cristiano Ronaldo4 Real Madrid Racing Santander 6–1 (H) 23 October 2010 Lionel Messi Barcelona Almería 8–0 (A) 20 November 2010 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid Athletic Bilbao 5–1 (H) 20 November 2010 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid Villarreal 4–2 (H) 9 January 2011 Luís Fabiano Sevilla Levante 4–1 (H) 22 January 2011 Lionel Messi Barcelona Atlético Madrid 3–0 (H) 5 February 2011 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid Málaga 7–0 (H) 3 March 2011 Roberto Soldado4 Valencia Getafe 4–2 (A) 2 April 2011 Diego Costa Atlético Madrid Osasuna 3–2 (A) 3 April 2011 Gonzalo Higuaín Real Madrid Valencia 6–3 (A) 23 April 2011 Cristiano Ronaldo4 Real Madrid Sevilla 6–2 (A) 7 May 2011 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid Getafe 3–0 (H) 10 May 2011 Emmanuel Adebayor Real Madrid Almeria 8–1 (H) 21 May 2011 Sergio Agüero Atlético Madrid Mallorca 4–2 (A) 21 May 2011 4 Player scored four goals (H) – Home; (A) – Away
Discipline First yellow card of the season: Noé Pamarot for Hércules against Athletic Bilbao (28 August 2010) First red card of the season: Matías Fritzler for Hércules against Athletic Bilbao (28 August 2010)
Attendances
FC Barcelona drew the highest average home attendance in the 2010-11 edition of La Liga.
See also List of Spanish football transfers summer 2010 List of Spanish football transfers winter 2010–11 2010–11 Segunda División 2010–11 Copa del Rey
References
External links