The 2018–19 La Liga season, also known as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, was the 88th since its establishment. The season began on 17 August 2018 and concluded on 19 May 2019. Fixtures for the 2018–19 season were announced on 24 July 2018. This was the first La Liga season to use the VAR.
Barcelona were the defending champions, and they secured a second consecutive title with three games to spare following victory over Levante on 27 April. Huesca, Rayo Vallecano and Valladolid joined as the promoted clubs from the 2017–18 Segunda División. They replaced Málaga, Las Palmas and Deportivo La Coruña, who were relegated to the 2018–19 Segunda División.
This is the first season since 2008–09 that did not feature the league's all time second-highest scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, who departed to Juventus in the summer.
Summary Several clubs made managerial changes before the start of the season. Among them were Real Madrid, when Zinedine Zidane resigned following the club's third consecutive UEFA Champions League victory. He was replaced by Julen Lopetegui, who was managing the Spain national team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia at the time of announcement and was dismissed from that job as a result. Other incomers included Pablo Machín at Sevilla, who was hired after his success with newly promoted Girona the previous season.
In the transfer window, the biggest deal saw Real Madrid lose Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus for a fee of €112 million; the Portuguese forward had scored 450 goals in 438 games during his nine years in the Spanish capital. Real Madrid's additions included Belgium international goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois for €35 million from Chelsea, and striker Mariano returned to the club from Lyon for €22 million. Defending champions Barcelona added Clément Lenglet to their defence, Arturo Vidal to midfield, and spent over €40 million on Brazilian forward Malcom. Players exiting Barcelona included Andrés Iniesta at the end of a successful 16-year-spell, as he signed for Vissel Kobe in Japan.
Veterans Gabi and Fernando Torres also left Atlético Madrid for new teams in Asia, while the same club welcomed in the likes of World Cup-winning French midfielder Thomas Lemar and Portugal's Gelson Martins. After a successful previous season, in which the team finished fourth and returned to the Champions League, Valencia made permanent the loan signing of Portuguese winger Gonçalo Guedes from Paris Saint-Germain and Geoffrey Kondogbia from Inter Milan. Forward Simone Zaza and midfielder João Cancelo both left to Italy, while Kevin Gameiro arrived as replacement. Athletic Bilbao sold Kepa Arrizabalaga to Chelsea for €80 million, a world record fee for a goalkeeper.
The tenth round of matches featured the first El Clásico of the season, which Barcelona won 5–1 at home against Real Madrid with a hat-trick by Luis Suárez. The result put Madrid into 9th place, and led to the dismissal of Lopetegui after only five months. Other early pace-setters included Sevilla with their prolific strike partnership of André Silva and Wissam Ben Yedder, Alavés who were briefly league leaders in mid-October, Espanyol, and Valladolid who had been taken over by former Brazil international Ronaldo.
Teams Promotion and relegation (pre-season) A total of 20 teams will contest the league, including 17 sides from the 2017–18 season and three promoted from the 2017–18 Segunda División. This will include the two top teams from the Segunda División, and the winners of the play-offs.
Teams relegated to Segunda División
The first team to be relegated from La Liga were Málaga. Their relegation was ensured on 19 April 2018, following a late 0−1 defeat to Levante, ending their 10-year spell in the top division.
The second team to be relegated were Las Palmas, after a 0−4 home defeat to Deportivo Alavés on 22 April 2018, ending their three-year spell in the league.
The last team to be relegated were Deportivo La Coruña, following a 2−4 home loss to Barcelona on 29 April 2018. This result ensured Deportivo's third relegation in seven years, and also handed Barcelona their 25th La Liga title.
Teams promoted from Segunda División
On 21 May 2018, Huesca were promoted to La Liga for the first time ever by winning 2–0 at Lugo.
Rayo Vallecano was the second team to earn promotion to La Liga on 27 May 2018 by winning against Lugo as well, this time 1–0. Rayo returned after a two-year absence.
Valladolid was the last team to be promoted after beating Sporting Gijón and Numancia in the play-offs. Valladolid returned to top division after 4 years.
This was the first season since the 2014–15 season without any teams from the archipelagos of Spain (teams located on the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands) since Las Palmas was relegated and Tenerife failed to qualify for the promotion play-offs.
Stadia and locations
Celta signed a sponsorship contract with Abanca to rename their stadium as Abanca-Balaídos. + Team Location Stadium CapacityAlavésVitoria-GasteizMendizorrotzaAthletic BilbaoBilbaoSan MamésAtlético MadridMadridWanda MetropolitanoBarcelonaBarcelonaCamp NouCelta VigoVigoAbanca-BalaídosEibarEibarIpuruaEspanyolCornellà de LlobregatRCDE StadiumGetafeGetafeColiseum Alfonso PérezGironaGironaMontiliviHuescaHuescaEl AlcorazLeganésLeganésButarqueLevanteValenciaCiutat de ValènciaRayo VallecanoMadridVallecasReal BetisSevilleBenito VillamarínReal MadridMadridSantiago BernabéuReal SociedadSan SebastiánAnoetaSevillaSevilleRamón Sánchez PizjuánValenciaValenciaMestallaValladolidValladolidJosé ZorrillaVillarrealVillarrealEstadio de la Cerámica
Matches outside Spain On 16 August 2018, La Liga signed a 15-year agreement with Relevant Sports (owners of the International Champions Cup) to schedule one match per season within the United States. This would mark the first time ever that an official La Liga league match would be held there. The match between Girona and Barcelona, to be played on 27 January 2019, was selected to be played in Miami, but it required the approval of the Royal Spanish Football Federation. On 21 September 2018, the Spanish Football Federation denied approval of the match being held in Miami. On 26 October 2018, following a request for guidance from the Spanish Football Federation, US Soccer and CONCACAF, the FIFA Council discussed La Liga's proposal. At the end of the meeting, the FIFA Council stated that "Consistent with the opinion expressed by the Football Stakeholders Committee, the Council emphasised the sporting principle that official league matches must be played within the territory of the respective member association". On 13 December 2018, Barcelona left their disposition to play the match in Miami without effect.
Personnel and sponsorship
+ Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorAlavés, HiKOKI FranciscoHuesca La Magia, DISA, Bodega Sommos, Grupo Cosehisa, El Dorado, Ambar 0,0Cuatro Rayas, Junta of Castile and León, Integra Energía, Cultura y Turismo Valladolid 1. On the back of shirt. 2. On the sleeves. 3. On the shorts. 4. On the away jersey.
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner ofdepartureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate ofappointmentCelta Vigo Juan Carlos UnzuéSacked21 May 2018Pre-season Antonio Mohamed22 May 2018Girona Pablo MachínSigned for Sevilla28 May 2018 Eusebio Sacristán7 June 2018Real Madrid Zinedine ZidaneResigned31 May 2018 Julen Lopetegui12 June 2018Real Sociedad Imanol AlguacilEnd of contract30 June 2018 Asier Garitano24 May 2018Huesca Rubi30 June 2018 Leo Franco28 May 2018Sevilla Joaquín CaparrósEnd of caretaker spell30 June 2018 Pablo Machín28 May 2018Espanyol David Gallego30 June 2018 Rubi3 June 2018Leganés Asier GaritanoSigned for Real Sociedad30 June 2018 Mauricio Pellegrino2 June 2018Athletic Bilbao José Ángel ZigandaMutual consent30 June 2018 Eduardo Berizzo31 May 2018Huesca Leo FrancoSacked9 October 201820th Francisco10 October 2018Real Madrid Julen Lopetegui29 October 20189th Santiago Solari 30 October 2018Celta Vigo Antonio Mohamed12 November 201814th Miguel Cardoso 12 November 2018Athletic Bilbao Eduardo Berizzo4 December 201818th Gaizka Garitano4 December 2018Villarreal Javier Calleja10 December 201817th Luis García10 December 2018Real Sociedad Asier Garitano26 December 201815th Imanol Alguacil26 December 2018Villarreal Luis García29 January 201919th Javier Calleja29 January 2019Celta Vigo Miguel Cardoso 3 March 201917th Fran Escribá3 March 2019Real Madrid Santiago Solari11 March 20193rd Zinedine Zidane11 March 2019Sevilla Pablo Machín15 March 20196th Joaquín Caparrós15 March 2019Rayo Vallecano Míchel18 March 201919th Paco Jémez20 March 2019
League table
Standings
Results
Season statistics
Scoring First goal of the season: Roger Martí for Levante against Real Betis (17 August 2018) Last goal of the season: Pablo de Blasis for Eibar against Barcelona (19 May 2019)
Top goalscorers
Rank Player Club Goals1 Lionel MessiBarcelona362 Karim BenzemaReal Madrid21 Luis SuárezBarcelona4 Iago AspasCelta Vigo205 Cristhian StuaniGirona196 Wissam Ben YedderSevilla187 Borja IglesiasEspanyol178 Antoine GriezmannAtlético Madrid159 CharlesEibar14 Raúl de TomásRayo Vallecano Jaime MataGetafe Jorge MolinaGetafe
Top assists
Rank Player Club Assists1 Lionel MessiBarcelona13 Pablo SarabiaSevilla3 Santi CazorlaVillarreal10 JonyAlavés5 Wissam Ben YedderSevilla9 José CampañaLevante Antoine GriezmannAtlético Madrid8 Jordi AlbaBarcelona89 Moi GómezHuesca7 Brais MéndezCelta Vigo Dani ParejoValencia Sergi RobertoBarcelona Arturo VidalBarcelona
Zamora Trophy
The Ricardo Zamora Trophy was 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 Jan OblakAtlético Madrid27370.732 Marc-André ter StegenBarcelona32350.913 David SoriaGetafe34370.924 NetoValencia343415 Iago HerrerínAthletic Bilbao32311.03
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Round André SilvaSevillaRayo Vallecano4–1 (A)19 August 20181 Wissam Ben YedderSevillaLevante6–2 (A)23 September 20185 Iago AspasCelta VigoEibar4–0 (H)27 October 201810 Luis SuárezBarcelonaReal Madrid5–1 (H)28 October 2018 Lionel MessiBarcelonaLevante5–0 (A)16 December 201816 Raúl de TomásRayo VallecanoCelta Vigo4–2 (H)11 January 201919 Youssef En-NesyriLeganésReal Betis3–0 (H)10 February 201923 Lionel MessiBarcelonaSevilla4–2 (A)23 February 201925 Wissam Ben YedderSevillaReal Sociedad5–2 (H)10 March 201927 Lionel MessiBarcelonaReal Betis4–1 (A)17 March 201928 Karim BenzemaReal MadridAthletic Bilbao3–0 (H)21 April 201933 Note (H) – Home; (A) – Away
Discipline
Player Most yellow cards: 17 Álvaro (Villarreal) Éver Banega (Sevilla) Mario Gaspar (Villarreal) Most red cards: 2 Luis Advíncula (Rayo Vallecano) Álvaro (Villarreal) Abdoulaye Ba (Rayo Vallecano) Éver Banega (Sevilla) Erick Cabaco (Levante) Gustavo Cabral (Celta Vigo) Djené Dakonam (Getafe) Óscar de Marcos (Athletic Bilbao) Bernardo Espinosa (Girona) Jorge Pulido (Huesca) Rubén Rochina (Levante)
Team Most yellow cards: 121 Athletic Bilbao Most red cards: 8 Rayo Vallecano Fewest yellow cards: 77 Barcelona Fewest red cards: 0 Valladolid
Average attendances
Awards Seasonal Award Recipient Best Player (Barcelona) Best Goalkeeper Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid) Best Coach José Bordalás (Getafe) Team of the Year
Team of the Year Goalkeeper Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid) Defenders Jesús Navas (Sevilla) Gerard Piqué (Barcelona) Djené (Getafe) Jordi Alba (Barcelona) Midfielders Ivan Rakitić (Barcelona) Dani Parejo (Valencia) Sergio Canales (Real Betis) Pablo Sarabia (Sevilla) Forwards Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo)
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