The 2008–09

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

season (known as the ''Liga BBVA'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 78th since its establishment.

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

were the defending champions, having won their 31st La Liga title in the previous season. The campaign began on 30 August 2008, and concluded on 31 May 2009. A total of 20 teams contested the league, 17 of which already contested in the 2007–08 season, and three of which were promoted from the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. A new match ball – the Nike T90 Omni – served as the official ball for all matches. On 16 May 2009, following Villarreal's 3–2 victory over Real Madrid,

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

were declared champions, winning their 19th La Liga title, with three matches to play. Barcelona's

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

received the inaugural La Liga Award for Best Player from the

Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Amer ...

Promotion and relegation

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

, Real Murcia and Levante were relegated to the

2008–09 Segunda División The 2008–09 Segunda División season (known from that season as Liga Adelante for sponsorship reasons) was the 78th since its establishment. The first matches of the season were played on 30 August 2008, and the season ended on 21 June 2009. R ...

after finishing in the bottom three spots of the table at the end of the 2007–08 La Liga. Zaragoza were relegated to the Segunda División after five seasons of continuous membership in the top football league of Spain; Levante returned in Segunda División after two-year tenured in La Liga; and Murcia made their immediate return to the second level. The three relegated teams were replaced by three

2007–08 Segunda División The 2007–08 season was the 77th in the history of the Segunda División (known as the Liga BBVA for sponsorship reasons), the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The first matches of the season were played on 25 August 2007, and ...

sides. Champions Numancia, who ended their second-level status after three years, runners-up

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

, who returned to the top flight after two season in the second level, and

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

returned to the highest Spanish league after ten years.

Team information

Stadia and locations

Personnel and sponsoring

*Barcelona had no shirt sponsor during the 2008–09 season. Instead, following the signing of a five-year agreement with the humanitarian organisation UNICEF in 2006, the club sported the UNICEF logo on the front of its jersey while making an annual donation to the organisation.

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Awards

La Liga Awards

For the first time in La Liga's history, its governing body, the

, honoured the competition's best players and coach with the La Liga Awards.

Pichichi Trophy

The

Pichichi Trophy In Spanish Association football, football, the Pichichi Trophy () is awarded by the sports newspaper ''Marca (newspaper), Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Pichichi (footballer), Rafael ...

is awarded to the player who scores the most goals in a season. Source
Yahoo! Sport
/small>

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. Source
LFP
/small>

Top assists

*Source
ESPN Soccernet
/small>

Fair Play award

*Source: 2008–09 Fair Play Rankings Season.

Scoring

*First goal of the season:
Luis García for Espanyol against

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

(30 August 2008) *Last goal of the season:
Ricardo Oliveira for

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

against

(31 May 2009)

Hat-tricks

⁴ Player scored four goals(H) - Home; (A) - Away

Discipline

*First yellow card of the season: Grégory Béranger for Espanyol against

(30 August 2008) *First red card of the season:

Diego Godín Diego Roberto Godín Leal (born 16 February 1986) is a Uruguayan former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation, he started out at C.A. Cerro, Cerro and ...

for Villarreal against

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

(31 August 2008)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:La Liga 2008-09 2008 2009 1

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...