2010–11 La Liga


The 2010–11 La Liga season was the 80th since its establishment. The campaign began on 28 August 2010 and ended on 21 May 2011. A total of 20 teams contested the league, 17 of which already contested 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 their third-consecutive and 21st La Liga title after a 1–1 tie with Levante on 11 May 2011. The result gave Barcelona a 6-point lead with two matches remaining which, combined with their better head-to-head record with Real Madrid, ensured that they finished top of the table. Barcelona led the table since defeating Madrid 5–0 on 23 November 2010. Since then, they lost only one match en route to winning the title. It was the third straight title for Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola. Lionel Messi won the LFP Award for Best Player, which marked his third consecutive win.
The season was again dominated by Barcelona and Real Madrid, with second-place Madrid 21 points ahead of third-place Valencia. Having encountered each other in the Champions League semifinals and the Copa del Rey final, the top two teams met four times in 17 days, for a total of five times this season.
The most significant managerial change prior to the start of the season was two-time Champions League-winning José Mourinho taking over at Real Madrid.

Teams

, 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

TeamClub home cityStadiumCapacity
AlmeríaAlmeríaEstadio del Mediterráneo22,000
Athletic BilbaoBilbaoSan Mamés39,750
Atlético MadridMadridVicente Calderón54,851
BarcelonaBarcelonaCamp Nou99,354
Deportivo La CoruñaA CoruñaRiazor34,600
EspanyolBarcelonaEstadi Cornellà-El Prat40,500
GetafeGetafeColiseum Alfonso Pérez17,700
HérculesAlicanteEstadio José Rico Pérez30,000
LevanteValenciaEstadi Ciutat de València25,534
MálagaMálagaLa Rosaleda28,963
MallorcaPalmaIberostar23,142
OsasunaPamplonaEstadio Reyno de Navarra19,800
Racing SantanderSantanderEl Sardinero22,271
Real MadridMadridSantiago Bernabéu80,354
Real SociedadSan SebastiánEstadio Anoeta32,076
SevillaSevillaRamón Sánchez Pizjuán45,500
Sporting de GijónGijónEl Molinón29,800
ValenciaValenciaMestalla55,000
VillarrealVila-realEl Madrigal25,000
ZaragozaZaragozaLa Romareda34,596

Personnel and sponsorship

Barcelona makes a donation to UNICEF in order to display the charity's logo on the club's kit.

Managerial changes

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 Eric Abidal
Best Midfielder Xavi
Andrés Iniesta
Best Forward Lionel Messi

Top goalscorers

La Liga Champions

This is the list of goalscorers in accordance with the LFP as organising body.
RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid40
2 Lionel MessiBarcelona31
3 Sergio AgüeroAtlético Madrid20
3 Álvaro NegredoSevilla20
5 Fernando LlorenteAthletic Bilbao18
5 Giuseppe RossiVillarreal18
5 Roberto SoldadoValencia18
5 David VillaBarcelona18
9 Karim BenzemaReal Madrid15
10 Salomón RondónMálaga14

The Pichichi Trophy is awarded by newspaper Marca to the player who scores the most goals in a season, according to its own rules to determine the goalscorer.
RankPlayerClubGoalsPenalties
1 Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid418
2 Lionel MessiBarcelona314
3 Sergio AgüeroAtlético Madrid201
3 Álvaro NegredoSevilla203
5 Fernando LlorenteAthletic Bilbao180
5 Giuseppe RossiVillarreal184
5 Roberto SoldadoValencia181
5 David VillaBarcelona180
9 Karim BenzemaReal Madrid150
10 Salomón RondónMálaga140

RankPlayerClubAssists
1 Mesut ÖzilReal Madrid19
2 Lionel MessiBarcelona18
3 Dani AlvesBarcelona15
4 Xabi PrietoReal Sociedad13
5 Juan MataValencia12
6 Ángel Di MaríaReal Madrid11
7 Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid10
7 Santi CazorlaVillarreal10
9 ValdoLevante8
9 Borja ValeroVillarreal8

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 ValdésBarcelona16320.50
2 Iker CasillasReal Madrid32340.94
3 Daniel AranzubiaDeportivo La Coruña36321.13
4 Diego LópezVillarreal44381.16
5 RicardoOsasuna46381.21

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 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.
RankTeamGames Total Points
1
Barcelona
38
95
1
1
–
–
–
–
100
2
Mallorca
38
90
1
3
–
–
–
–
101
3
Racing Santander
38
87
2
4
–
138
–
–
108
4
Hércules
38
94
3
3
–
–
–
–
109
5
Real Sociedad
38
81
0
0
–
29, 37
4 Milds3, 14, 23, 36
–
111
6
Deportivo La Coruña
38
96
4
1
–
–
1 Mild21
–
112
7
Real Madrid
38
94
4
3
–
15
–
–
116
8
Villarreal
38
95
3
2
–
225
–
–
117
9
Almería
38
99
1
3
–
325, 29, 35
–
–
125
9
Athletic Bilbao
38
105
3
3
–
–
1 Mild11
–
125
11
Getafe
38
111
4
4
–
–
–
–
132
12
Sporting de Gijón
38
110
2
3
–
227, 35
–
–
133
13
Atlético Madrid
38
104
0
5
–
38, 13
–
–
134
14
Espanyol
38
119
2
3
–
–
1 Mild36
–
137
15
Málaga
38
104
3
3
–
120
3 Milds18, 25, 38
–
139
16
Osasuna
38
112
4
2
–
–
3 Milds21, 36, 38
–
141
17
Sevilla
38
102
3
3
–
216, 28
4 Milds4, 6, 33, 38
–
147
18
Levante
38
125
0
3
–
236, 37
1 Mild38
–
149
18
Valencia
38
130
4
2
–
125
–
–
149
20
Zaragoza
38
125
3
4
–
18
1 Mild31
–
153

Sources of cards and penalties: , , and

Pedro Zaballa award

Season statistics

Scoring

Fernando Llorente for Athletic Bilbao against Hércules.
Kennedy Bakircioglu for Racing Santander against Athletic Bilbao.

Hat-tricks

PlayerForAgainstResultDateReference
Cristiano Ronaldo4Real MadridRacing Santander6–1 23 October 2010
Lionel MessiBarcelonaAlmería8–0 20 November 2010
Cristiano RonaldoReal MadridAthletic Bilbao5–1 20 November 2010
Cristiano RonaldoReal MadridVillarreal4–2 9 January 2011
Luís FabianoSevillaLevante4–1 22 January 2011
Lionel MessiBarcelonaAtlético Madrid3–0 5 February 2011
Cristiano RonaldoReal MadridMálaga7–0 3 March 2011
Roberto Soldado4ValenciaGetafe4–2 2 April 2011
Diego CostaAtlético MadridOsasuna3–2 3 April 2011
Gonzalo HiguaínReal MadridValencia6–3 23 April 2011
Cristiano RonaldoReal MadridSevilla6–2 7 May 2011
Cristiano RonaldoReal MadridGetafe3–0 10 May 2011
Emmanuel AdebayorReal MadridAlmeria8–1 21 May 2011
Sergio AgüeroAtlético MadridMallorca4–2 21 May 2011

4 Player scored four goals – Home ; – Away

Discipline