The 2021–22 La Liga, also known as La Liga Santander due to sponsorship reasons, was the 91st season of La Liga, Spain's premier football competition. It began on 13 August 2021 and concluded on 22 May 2022. The fixtures were announced on 30 June 2021.
On 24 June 2021, the Spanish Council of Ministers resolved that spectators could return to stadiums at full capacity by means of a modification of the royal decree regulating the 'new normality', in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Atlético Madrid were the defending champions, having won their eleventh title the previous season. Espanyol, Mallorca and Rayo Vallecano joined as the promoted clubs from the 2020–21 Segunda División. They replaced Huesca, Valladolid and Eibar, which were relegated to Segunda the previous season.
Real Madrid secured a record-extending 35th title with four matches to spare on 30 April, following a 4–0 victory over Espanyol.
This was the first La Liga season since 2003–04 that did not feature the league's all-time top goal scorer Lionel Messi and long time Real Madrid player and captain Sergio Ramos, who both departed for Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
Teams Promotion and relegation (pre-season) A total of twenty teams contested the league, including seventeen sides from the 2020–21 season and three promoted from the 2020–21 Segunda División. This included the two top teams from the Segunda División, and the winners of the promotion play-offs.
Teams relegated to Segunda División
The first team to be relegated from La Liga were Eibar, after a 1–4 loss to Valencia on 16 May 2021, ending their seven-year stay in the top tier. The second team to be relegated were Valladolid, following a 1–2 home defeat against Atlético Madrid on 22 May 2021, in their final game of the season, ending their three-year stay in the top tier. The third and final team to be relegated were Huesca, after drawing 0–0 against Valencia on 22 May 2021 in their final game of the season, suffering an immediate return to the second division.
Teams promoted from Segunda División
On 8 May 2021, Espanyol became the first side to mathematically be promoted, assured of a return to the top flight following a 0–0 draw against Zaragoza. The second team to earn promotion was Mallorca, following Almería's 2–3 loss to Cartagena on 18 May 2021. Both teams made an immediate return to the first division after a season away. The third and final team to be promoted were Rayo Vallecano, after winning the play-off final 3–2 against Girona on 20 June 2021, returning after a two-year absence.
Stadiums and locations
Team Location Stadium CapacityAlavésVitoria-GasteizMendizorroza Athletic BilbaoBilbaoSan Mamés Atlético Madrid Madrid Wanda MetropolitanoBarcelonaBarcelonaCamp NouCádizCádizNuevo MirandillaCelta VigoVigoAbanca-Balaídos Elche Elche Martínez Valero EspanyolBarcelonaRCDE StadiumGetafeGetafeColiseum Alfonso PérezGranadaGranadaNuevo Los Cármenes LevanteValenciaCiutat de ValènciaMallorcaPalmaVisit Mallorca Estadi OsasunaPamplonaEl SadarRayo VallecanoMadridVallecasReal BetisSevilleBenito VillamarínReal MadridMadridSantiago BernabéuReal SociedadSan SebastiánAnoetaSevillaSevilleRamón Sánchez PizjuánValenciaValenciaMestallaVillarrealVillarrealEstadio de la Cerámica
Personnel and sponsorship
+ Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Kit sponsor(s)KelmeNew BalanceΝikeNikeMacronAdidasΝikeKelmeJomaΝikeMacronNikeAdidasUmbroKappa AdidasMacronΝikePumaJoma 1. On the back of shirt. 2. On the sleeves. 3. On the shorts.
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner ofdepartureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate ofappointmentValencia VoroEnd of interim spell22 May 2021Pre-season José Bordalás27 May 2021Getafe José BordalásMutual consent26 May 2021 MíchelReal Madrid Zinedine ZidaneResigned27 May 20211 June 2021Granada Diego Martínez27 May 2021 Robert Moreno18 June 2021Levante Paco LópezSacked3 October 202118th Javier Pereira7 October 2021Getafe Míchel4 October 202120th Quique Sánchez Flores6 October 2021Barcelona Ronald Koeman27 October 20219th Xavi5 November 2021Elche Fran Escribá21 November 202118th Francisco28 November 2021Levante Javier Pereira29 November 202120th Alessio Lisci 7 December 2021Alavés Javier Calleja28 December 202118th José Luis Mendilibar28 December 2021Cádiz Álvaro Cervera11 January 202219th Sergio11 January 2022Granada Robert Moreno6 March 202217th Rubén Torrecilla (caretaker)6 March 2022Mallorca Luis García22 March 202218th24 March 2022Alavés José Luis Mendilibar3 April 202220th Julio Velázquez5 April 2022Granada Rubén TorrecillaEnd of caretaker spell18 April 202218th Aitor Karanka18 April 2022Espanyol Vicente MorenoSacked13 May 202213th Luis Blanco (caretaker)13 May 2022
League table
Results
Season statistics
Scoring
First goal of the season: Carlos Soler for Valencia against Getafe (13 August 2021)
Last goal of the season: Jon Guridi for Real Sociedad against Atlético Madrid (22 May 2022)
Top goalscorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Karim BenzemaReal Madrid272 Iago AspasCelta Vigo183 Raúl de TomásEspanyol17 Vinícius JúniorReal Madrid5 JuanmiReal Betis16 Enes ÜnalGetafe7 JoseluAlavés148 José Luis MoralesLevante139 Ángel CorreaAtlético Madrid12 Memphis DepayBarcelona
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Ousmane DembéléBarcelona132 Karim BenzemaReal Madrid123 Jordi AlbaBarcelona10 Iker MuniainAthletic Bilbao Dani ParejoVillarreal Vinícius JúniorReal Madrid7 Sergi DarderEspanyol9 Óscar TrejoRayo Vallecano9 Nabil FekirReal Betis8 Luka ModrićReal Madrid
Zamora Trophy The Zamora Trophy was awarded by newspaper Marca to the goalkeeper with the lowest goals-to-games ratio. A goalkeeper had to have played at least 28 games of 60 or more minutes to be eligible for the trophy. RankPlayerClubGoalsagainstMatchesAverage1 Yassine BounouSevilla24310.772 Thibaut CourtoisReal Madrid29360.813 Gerónimo RulliVillarreal28320.884 Álex RemiroReal Sociedad32350.91 Unai SimónAthletic Bilbao3134
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Round Karim BenzemaReal MadridCelta Vigo5–2 (H)12 September 20214 Marco AsensioReal MadridMallorca6–1 (H)22 September 20216 Anthony LozanoCádizVillarreal3–3 (A)26 October 202111 JuanmiReal BetisLevante3–1 (H)28 November 202115 Jorge MolinaGranadaMallorca4–1 (H)19 December 202118 Oihan SancetAthletic BilbaoOsasuna3–1 (A)3 January 202219 Arnaut DanjumaVillarrealGranada4–1 (A)19 February 202225 Pierre-Emerick AubameyangBarcelonaValencia4–1 (A)20 February 202225 Yeremy Pino4VillarrealEspanyol5–1 (H)27 February 202226 Vinícius JúniorReal MadridLevante6–0 (H)12 May 202236
4 – Player scored four goals.
Discipline
Player Most yellow cards: 15 Omar Alderete (Valencia) Most red cards: 2 Jorge Cuenca (Getafe) Raúl de Tomás (Espanyol) José Gayà (Valencia) Hugo Guillamón (Valencia) Geoffrey Kondogbia (Atlético Madrid) Jules Koundé (Sevilla) Hugo Mallo (Celta Vigo) Iñigo Martínez (Athletic Bilbao) Franco Russo (Mallorca) Roberto Soldado (Levante) Mikel Vesga (Athletic Bilbao)
Team Most yellow cards: 123 Valencia Most red cards: 8 Getafe Valencia Fewest yellow cards: 76 Real Madrid Real Sociedad Fewest red cards: 0 Real Madrid
Awards
Player of the Season PlayerClub Karim BenzemaReal Madrid
Monthly MonthPlayer of the MonthReferencePlayerClubSeptember Karim BenzemaReal MadridOctober Robin Le NormandReal SociedadNovember Vinícius JúniorReal MadridDecember JuanmiReal BetisJanuary Ángel CorreaAtlético MadridFebruary Thibaut CourtoisReal MadridMarch João FélixAtlético MadridApril Karim BenzemaReal MadridMay Vedat MuriqiMallorca
Team of the Season Team of the Season Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) Defenders Marcos Acuña (Sevilla) David Alaba (Real Madrid) Jules Koundé (Sevilla) Éder Militão (Real Madrid) Ronald Araújo (Barcelona) Midfielders Sergio Canales (Real Betis) Nabil Fekir (Real Betis) Luka Modrić (Real Madrid) Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao) Pedri (Barcelona) Forwards Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) Raúl de Tomás (Espanyol) João Félix (Atlético Madrid) Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid)
Attendance to stadiums Restrictions Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, clubs were not allowed to use the total capacity of their stadiums. According to the progress of the pandemic, the capacity allowed each month was decided by the Government of Spain, in agreement with the Autonomous Communities.
August (rounds 1 to 3): 40% of capacity allowed. Additionally, the Basque Country reduced it to 20%, Catalonia to 30% and the Valencian Community limited the attendance to a maximum of 15,000 spectators, always respecting the agreement. September (rounds 4 to 7): 60% of capacity allowed. The Basque Country raised its own limit to 30%, while Catalonia did to 40%. October (rounds 8 to 12): full capacity allowed, except for Catalonia and Basque Country, whose governments limited the attendance to 60%.
Average attendances
See also 2021–22 Segunda División (second tier) 2021–22 Primera División RFEF (third tier) 2021–22 Segunda División RFEF (fourth tier) 2021–22 Tercera División RFEF (fifth tier) 2021–22 Primera División (women's league)
References
La Liga 2021-22 Schedule, Squad
External links