The 2013–14 La Liga season (known as the Liga BBVA for sponsorship reasons) was the 83rd since its establishment. Matchdays were drawn on 9 July 2013. The season began on 17 August 2013 and concluded on 18 May 2014; all top-flight European leagues ended earlier than the previous season due to the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup. Elche, Villarreal and Almería competed in La Liga this season after being promoted from the second tier.
Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona traded the lead several times throughout the season. Entering the final weekend of play, Atlético Madrid were three points ahead of 2013 champions Barcelona. However, with the two teams facing off, Barcelona could claim the title with a win. The game ended in a draw, giving the Colchoneros their first league title in eighteen years, and their tenth overall. It was the first time since the 2003–04 season that a club other than Barcelona or Real Madrid, who finished second and third respectively, had won the title. Osasuna, Valladolid and Real Betis finished in the bottom three and were relegated.
Cristiano Ronaldo won the La Liga Award for Best Player for the first time. As the top scorer with 31 goals, Ronaldo also won the Pichichi Trophy, along with sharing the European Golden Shoe. Ángel Di María had the most assists, with 17. Thibaut Courtois won the Zamora Trophy for best goalkeeper.
Teams
Promotion and relegation (pre-season) A total of twenty teams contested the league, including seventeen sides from the 2012–13 season and three promoted from the 2012–13 Segunda División. This included the top two ranked teams from the Segunda División, and the victorious team of the play-offs.
Mallorca, Deportivo La Coruña and Zaragoza were relegated to the 2013–14 Segunda División at the end of the previous season; Mallorca were relegated after sixteen years in La Liga, the longest period in the club's history, Zaragoza returned to the Segunda División after a four-year tenure in La Liga, and Deportivo made an immediate return to the second tier after being promoted the previous year. All three teams were relegated on the final matchday.
The three relegated teams were replaced by three 2012–13 Segunda División sides: Elche returned to the top level as Segunda División champions, after 24 years of absence and having spent the last fourteen consecutive seasons in the Segunda División. Second-placed Villarreal were also promoted to La Liga, making an immediate return to the top flight after a win over Almería in a decisive match near the end of the season which would see the winners directly promoted to La Liga. Almería themselves also eventually achieved promotion; the club returned to the Spanish top flight after spending two years in the Segunda by defeating Girona in the final of the promotion play-offs.
This was the first season since the 1988–89 campaign without any teams from the archipelagos of Spain (teams located on the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands) in the top flight, as Mallorca were relegated and Las Palmas failed to return to La Liga after losing in the semi-finals of the promotion play-offs.
Stadium and locations
TeamLocation of stadiumStadiumCapacityAlmeríaAlmeríaJuegos Mediterráneos22,000Athletic BilbaoBilbaoSan Mamés53,332Atlético MadridMadridVicente Calderón54,851BarcelonaBarcelonaCamp Nou99,354Celta VigoVigoBalaídos31,800ElcheElcheMartínez Valero36,017EspanyolBarcelonaEstadi Cornellà-El Prat40,500GetafeGetafeColiseum Alfonso Pérez17,700GranadaGranadaNuevo Los Cármenes22,524LevanteValenciaCiutat de València25,534MálagaMálagaLa Rosaleda30,044OsasunaPamplonaEl Sadar19,553Rayo VallecanoMadridCampo de Vallecas15,489Real BetisSevilleBenito Villamarín52,500Real MadridMadridSantiago Bernabéu85,454Real SociedadSan SebastiánAnoeta32,076SevillaSevilleRamón Sánchez Pizjuán45,500ValenciaValenciaMestalla 55,000ValladolidValladolidJosé Zorrilla 26,512VillarrealVillarrealEl Madrigal 24,890
Personnel and sponsorship TeamHead coachCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsorAlmería Francisco Rodríguez CoronaNikeUrcisol.comAthletic Bilbao Ernesto Valverde Carlos GurpeguiNikePetronorAtlético Madrid Diego Simeone GabiNikeSOCAR and KyoceraBarcelona Gerardo Martino Carles PuyolNikeQatar Airways and UNICEF Celta Vigo Luis Enrique Borja OubiñaAdidasCitroën, Estrella Galicia and Grupo Recalvi Elche Fran Escribá Sergio MantecónAcerbis GioseppoEspanyol Javier Aguirre Sergio GarcíaPumaCancúnGetafe Cosmin Contra Jaime GavilánJomaConfremar and IG MarketsGranada Lucas Alcaraz Diego MainzLuanviCaja GranadaLevante Joaquín Caparrós JuanfranKelmeComunitat ValencianaMálaga Bernd Schuster DudaNikeUNESCO and BlueBay resortsOsasuna Javi Gracia Patxi PuñalAdidasLacturale and Nevir Paco JémezErreàReal Betis Gabriel Calderón NachoMacronCirsa and AndalucíaReal Madrid Carlo Ancelotti Iker CasillasAdidasFly EmiratesReal Sociedad Jagoba Arrasate Xabi PrietoNikeCanal+ and KutxaSevilla Unai Emery Federico FazioWarriorInterwettenValencia Juan Antonio Pizzi Ricardo CostaJomaJinKO SolarValladolid Javier BarajaHummelEl Norte de CastillaVillarreal Marcelino BrunoXtepPamesa Cerámica 2. On the back of shirt. 3. Barcelona made a donation to UNICEF in order to display the charity's logo on the back of the club's kit. 4. On the shorts. 5. Málaga made a donation to UNESCO in order to display the charity's logo on the club's kit.
As in the previous years, Nike provided the official ball for all matches, with a new Nike Incyte Liga BBVA model being used throughout the season for all matches.
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableReplaced byDate of appointmentMálaga Manuel Pellegrini Mutual consent2 June 2013Pre-season Bernd Schuster12 June 2013Valladolid Miroslav Đukić2 June 2013 Juan Ignacio Martínez17 June 2013Real Madrid José Mourinho2 June 2013 Carlo Ancelotti25 June 2013Celta Vigo Abel Resino8 June 2013 Luis Enrique8 June 2013Almería Javi Gracia28 June 2013 Francisco29 June 2013Valencia Ernesto Valverde End of contract30 June 2013 Miroslav Đukić4 June 20131Real Sociedad Philippe Montanier30 June 2013 Jagoba Arrasate8 June 20131Levante Juan Ignacio Martínez30 June 2013 Joaquín Caparrós10 June 20131Athletic Bilbao Marcelo Bielsa30 June 2013 Ernesto Valverde21 June 20131Barcelona Tito VilanovaResigned19 July 2013 Gerardo Martino23 July 2013Osasuna José Luis MendilibarSacked3 September 201320th Javi Gracia4 September 2013Real Betis Pepe Mel2 December 2013 Juan Carlos Garrido2 December 2013Valencia Miroslav Đukić16 December 20139th Juan Antonio Pizzi26 December 2013Real Betis Juan Carlos Garrido19 January 201420th Gabriel Calderón19 January 2014Getafe Luis García Plaza10 March 201415th Cosmin Contra10 March 2014 Notes Announcement date. The appointment was made effective since 1 July 2013.
Season summary
The 2013–14 La Liga season was the 83rd since its establishment. Match days were drawn on 9 July 2013. The season began on 17 August 2013 and ended on 18 May 2014.
For the first time since 1951 and just the third time in league history, the La Liga title came down to a head-to-head match on the final weekend of play. Atlético Madrid were three points ahead of 2013 champion Barcelona, but had its final game on the road in Barcelona. Barcelona took a 1–0 lead into the half and Atlético lost two starters to injury in the half. A second half header, however, secured a 1–1 draw, earning the Colchoneros their first league title in 18 years, and their 10th overall. It was the first time since the 2003–04 La Liga that a club other than Barcelona or Real Madrid, which finished tied for second, won the title. It was also the first time in the 67-year history of the Camp Nou stadium that a visiting team had clinched the title in the stadium.
The emergence of Diego Costa and Koke was a large part of Atlético Madrid's success. Costa scored 36 goals on the season (27 in league play), including the winner in Atlético's first victory over Real Madrid since 1999. Koke had 18 assists on the year (13 in league play), to go with seven goals.
Earlier in the season, Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick as Barcelona ended a 31-match unbeaten streak for Real Madrid. The same day, Atlético beat Real Betis to claim the league lead. A loss against Levante and draw against Málaga left Atlético vulnerable heading into their final match.
Cristiano Ronaldo won the league scoring title with 31 goals. Messi was second and Costa third. Ángel Di María had most assists with 17. Thibaut Courtois won the Ricardo Zamora Trophy for best goalkeeper. Barcelona was the least penalised team.
League table
Results
Season statistics
Top goalscorers The Pichichi Trophy is awarded by newspaper Marca to the player who scores the most goals in a season. RankPlayerClubGoals1 Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid312 Lionel MessiBarcelona283 Diego CostaAtlético Madrid274 Alexis SánchezBarcelona195 Karim BenzemaReal Madrid176 Aritz AdurizAthletic Bilbao16 Antoine GriezmannReal Sociedad Carlos VelaReal Sociedad9 Gareth BaleReal Madrid15 Kevin GameiroSevilla Javi GuerraValladolid PedroBarcelona
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Ángel Di MaríaReal Madrid172 Cesc FàbregasBarcelona14 KokeAtlético Madrid4 Gareth BaleReal Madrid135 Markel SusaetaAthletic Bilbao12 Carlos VelaReal Sociedad7 Lionel MessiBarcelona118 Ivan RakitićSevilla10 Alexis SánchezBarcelona10 Karim BenzemaReal Madrid9 Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid
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 Thibaut CourtoisAtlético Madrid24372 Gorka IraizozAthletic Bilbao32333 Diego LópezReal Madrid36364 Keylor NavasLevante39365 Sergio AsenjoVillarreal4135
Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDate Lionel MessiBarcelonaValencia3–2 (A)1 September 2013 Mounir El HamdaouiMálagaRayo Vallecano5–0 (H)15 September 2013 PedroBarcelonaRayo Vallecano4–0 (A)21 September 2013 Cristiano RonaldoReal MadridSevilla7–3 (H)30 October 2013 Youssef El-ArabiGranadaMálaga3–1 (H)8 November 2013 Cristiano RonaldoReal MadridReal Sociedad5–1 (H) 9 November 2013 Carlos Vela4Real SociedadCelta Vigo4–3 (H) 23 November 2013 Sergio GarcíaEspanyolRayo Vallecano4–1 (A)24 November 2013 Gareth BaleReal MadridValladolid4–0 (H)30 November 2013Gareth Bale JonasValenciaOsasuna3–0 (H)1 December 2013 Javi GuerraValladolidCelta Vigo3–0 (H)16 December 2013 PedroBarcelonaGetafe5–2 (A)22 December 2013 Alexis SánchezBarcelonaElche4–0 (H)5 January 2014 Ikechukwu UcheVillarrealRayo Vallecano5–2 (A)6 January 2014 Aritz AdurizAthletic BilbaoGranada4–0 (H)28 February 2014 Lionel MessiBarcelonaOsasuna7–0 (H)16 March 2014 Lionel MessiBarcelonaReal Madrid4–3 (A)23 March 2014 4 Player scored four goals5 Player scored five goals(H) – Home; (A) – Away
Discipline Most yellow cards (club): 102 Málaga Most yellow cards (player): 15 Alberto Botía (Elche) Most red cards (club): 8 Real Betis Rayo Vallecano Osasuna Most red cards (player): 2 6 players
Attendances
Awards Seasonal La Liga's governing body, the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, honoured the competition's best players and coach with the La Liga Awards.
AwardRecipientBest Player Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)Best Coach Diego Simeone (Atlético Madrid) Best Goalkeeper Keylor Navas (Levante)Best Defender Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)Best Midfielders Luka Modrić (Real Madrid) Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)Best Forward Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Team of the Year
Team of the Year Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (Atlético Madrid) Defence Juanfran (Atlético Madrid) Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Bilbao) Diego Godín (Atlético Madrid) Filipe Luís (Atlético Madrid) Midfield Ander Iturraspe (Athletic Bilbao) Gabi (Atlético Madrid) Koke (Atlético Madrid) Attack Ivan Rakitić (Sevilla) Diego Costa (Atlético Madrid) Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Monthly