2009–10 La Liga


The 2009–10 La Liga season was the 79th La Liga since its establishment. Barcelona were the defending champions, having won their 19th La Liga title in the previous season. The campaign began on 29 August 2009 ended on 16 May 2010 due to all top-flight European leagues ending earlier than the previous season because of 2010 FIFA World Cup.
A total of 20 teams contested the league, 17 of which already contested in the 2008–09 season and three of which were promoted from the Segunda División. In addition, a new match ball - the Nike T90 Ascente - served as the official ball for all matches.
On 16 May 2010, Barcelona were declared champions after their 4-0 victory over Valladolid, their 20th La Liga title. Lionel Messi won the LFP Award for Best Player for the second consecutive time.

Promotion and relegation

Teams promoted from 2008–09 Segunda División
Teams relegated to 2009–10 Segunda División

Stadia and locations

TeamClub home cityVenueCapacity
AlmeríaAlmeríaEstadio del Mediterráneo22,000
Athletic BilbaoBilbaoSan Mamés39,750
Atlético MadridMadridVicente Calderón54,851
BarcelonaBarcelonaCamp Nou98,772
Deportivo La CoruñaA CoruñaRiazor34,600
EspanyolBarcelonaEstadi Cornellà-El Prat40,500
GetafeGetafeColiseum Alfonso Pérez17,700
MálagaMálagaLa Rosaleda28,963
MallorcaPalma de MallorcaONO Estadi23,142
OsasunaPamplonaEstadio Reyno de Navarra19,800
Racing SantanderSantanderEl Sardinero22,271
Real MadridMadridSantiago Bernabéu80,354
SevillaSevillaRamón Sánchez Pizjuán48,649
SportingGijónEl Molinón25,885
TenerifeSanta Cruz de TenerifeHeliodoro Rodríguez López24,000
ValenciaValenciaMestalla55,000
ValladolidValladolidEstadio José Zorrilla26,512
VillarrealVila-realEl Madrigal25,000
XerezJerez de la FronteraChapín20,523
ZaragozaZaragozaLa Romareda34,596

Personnel and sponsoring

TeamChairmanHead CoachKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
Almería Alfonso García Juanma LilloUDA
Athletic Bilbao Fernando García Macua Joaquín CaparrósUmbroPetronor
Atlético Madrid Enrique Cerezo Quique Sánchez FloresNikeKia
Barcelona Joan Laporta Pep GuardiolaNikeUNICEF
Deportivo La Coruña Augusto Lendoiro Miguel Ángel LotinaLottoEstrella Galicia
Espanyol Daniel Sánchez Llibre Mauricio PochettinoUhlsportInterapuestas.com
Getafe Ángel Torres MíchelJomaBurger King
Málaga Fernando Sanz Juan MuñizUmbroWilliam Hill
Mallorca Tomeu Vidal Gregorio ManzanoMacronAir Europa
Osasuna Patxi Izco José Antonio CamachoDiadoraYingli Solar
Racing Santander Francisco Pernía Miguel Ángel PortugalJoma
Real Madrid Florentino Pérez Manuel Pellegriniadidasbwin.com
Sevilla José María del Nido Antonio ÁlvarezJoma12Bet
Sporting Manuel Vega-Arango Manolo PreciadoAstoreGijón / Asturias
Tenerife Miguel Concepción José Luis OltraPumaCajaCanarias
Valencia Manuel Llorente Unai EmeryKappaUnibet
Valladolid Carlos Suárez Sureda Javier ClementePumaCaja Duero
Villarreal Fernando Roig Juan Carlos GarridoPumaAeroport Castelló
Xerez Federico Souza Néstor GorositoLegeaCajasol
Zaragoza Agapito Iglesias José Aurelio GayadidasTelefónica

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyReplaced byDate of appointmentPosition in table
Málaga Antonio TapiaMutual consent1 June 2009 Juan Muñiz13 June 20098th
Real Madrid Juande RamosEnd of contract1 June 2009 Manuel Pellegrini2 June 20092nd
Villarreal Manuel PellegriniSigned for Real Madrid and thus purchased rights for €4m2 June 2009 Ernesto Valverde2 June 20095th
Racing Santander Juan MuñizMutual consent13 June 2009 Juan Carlos Mandiá26 June 200912th
Xerez Esteban VigoMutual consent28 June 2009 José Ángel Ziganda8 July 20091st in Segunda División
Atlético Madrid Abel ResinoSacked23 October 2009 Quique Sánchez Flores23 October 200915th
Racing Santander Juan Carlos MandiáSacked9 November 2009 Miguel Ángel Portugal19 November 200917th
Zaragoza MarcelinoSacked12 December 2009 José Aurelio Gay23 December 200917th
Almería Hugo SánchezSacked20 December 2009 Juanma Lillo23 December 200917th
Xerez José Ángel ZigandaSacked12 January 2010 Néstor Gorosito19 January 201020th
Villarreal Ernesto ValverdeSacked31 January 2010 Juan Carlos Garrido1 February 20109th
Valladolid José Luis MendilibarSacked1 February 2010 Onésimo Sánchez1 February 201017th
Sevilla Manolo JiménezSacked23 March 2010 Antonio Álvarez26 March 20105th
Valladolid Onésimo SánchezSacked5 April 2010 Javier Clemente6 April 201019th

League table

Positions by round

Results

Awards

LFP Awards

La Liga's governing body, the Liga de Fútbol Profesional, honoured the competition's best players and coach with the LFP Awards.
Recipient
Best Player Lionel Messi
Best Coach Pep Guardiola
Best Goalkeeper Víctor Valdés
Best Defender Gerard Piqué
Best Midfielder Xavi
Jesús Navas
Best Forward Lionel Messi

Pichichi Trophy

The Pichichi Trophy is awarded to the player who scores the most goals in a season.
RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Lionel MessiBarcelona34
2 Gonzalo HiguaínReal Madrid27
3 Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid26
4 David VillaValencia21
5 Diego ForlánAtlético Madrid18
6 Zlatan IbrahimovićBarcelona16
6 Roberto SoldadoGetafe16
8 Luís FabianoSevilla15
9 Fernando LlorenteAthletic Bilbao14
9 NinoTenerife14

The Zamora Trophy is awarded by newspaper Marca to the goalkeeper with least goals-to-games ratio. A goalkeeper must play at least 28 games of 60 or more minutes to be eligible for the trophy.
RankNameClubGoals
Against		MatchesAverage
1 Víctor ValdésBarcelona24380.63
2 Iker CasillasReal Madrid36380.95
3 César SánchezValencia29300.97
4 Daniel AranzubiaDeportivo42361.17
5 RicardoOsasuna45371.22

RankPlayerClubAssists
1 XaviBarcelona14
2 Lionel MessiBarcelona10
2 Dani AlvesBarcelona10
4 GutiReal Madrid9
4 MarceloReal Madrid9
4 Pedro LeónGetafe9
4 Jesús NavasSevilla9
8 MomoXerez8
8 Chory CastroMallorca8
8 Éver BanegaValencia8
8 Pedro MunitisRacing Santander8
8 Borja ValeroMallorca8

This award is given annually since 1999 to the team with the best fair play during the season. This ranking takes into account aspects such as cards, suspension of matches, audience behaviour and other penalties. This section not only aims to determine the best fair play, 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.
RankTeamGames Points
1
Real Madrid
38
85
2
3
–
–
–
–
98
2
Tenerife
38
86
2
2
–
113
–
–
101
3
Deportivo
38
68
1
3
–
410, 21, 28, 28
1 Mild17
–
104
4
Barcelona
38
73
2
3
–
45, 18, 21, 25
–
–
106
5
Mallorca
38
93
1
2
–
26, 11
–
–
111
6
Almería
38
98
3
2
–
–
1 Mild36
–
115
7
Atlético Madrid
38
90
4
3
–
21, 23
1 Mild10
–
122
8
Osasuna
38
83
3
6
–
–
2 Milds7, 11, 1 Serious14
–
123
8
Sporting de Gijón
38
98
2
2
–
134
2 Milds20, 34
–
123
10
Espanyol
38
110
6
1
–
–
–
–
125
11
Racing Santander
38
104
1
1
–
45, 20, 24, 29
–
–
129
12
Villarreal
38
95
5
4
–
15
2 Milds8, 37
–
132
13
Athletic Bilbao
38
96
4
5
–
122
2 Milds7, 11
–
134
13
Getafe
38
107
2
1
–
35, 27, 28
1 Mild22
–
134
13
Valladolid
38
100
3
6
–
210, 20
–
–
134
16
Valencia
38
113
3
4
–
124
2 Milds3, 23
–
146
17
Sevilla
38
101
4
6
–
21
2 Milds12, 19
–
147
18
Xerez
38
100
4
5
–
510, 23, 25, 31, 32
1 Mild22
–
153
19
Zaragoza
38
129
2
2
–
210, 27
1 Mild34
–
154
20
Málaga
38
135
1
8
–
–
1 Mild23
–
166

Source: RFEF , , , and

Pedro Zaballa award

and Sevilla supporters

Season statistics

Scoring

Raúl for Real Madrid against Deportivo.
Rafael van der Vaart for Real Madrid against Málaga.

Hat-tricks

PlayerForAgainstResultDateReference
Roberto SoldadoGetafeRacing Santander4–1 30 August 2009
Seydou KeitaBarcelonaZaragoza6–1 25 October 2009
Roberto SoldadoGetafeXerez5–1 29 November 2009
Lionel MessiBarcelonaTenerife5–0 10 January 2010
Lionel MessiBarcelonaValencia3–0 14 March 2010
Gonzalo HiguaínReal MadridValladolid4–1 14 March 2010
Lionel MessiBarcelonaZaragoza4–2 21 March 2010
Cristiano RonaldoReal MadridMallorca4–1 5 May 2010

Discipline