The 2017–18 La Liga season, also known as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, was the 87th since its establishment. The season began on 18 August 2017 and concluded on 20 May 2018. The fixtures were released on 21 July 2017.

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.

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 ...

, under new manager

Ernesto Valverde Ernesto Valverde Tejedor (born 9 February 1964) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of La Liga club Athletic Bilbao. Over ten seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 264 games and 68 ...

, won the league title on 29 April 2018 with four matches to spare. It was the second part of a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

-winning season for Barcelona, who also won the 2018 Copa del Rey final. Levante,

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

, and

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

were the newly promoted clubs competing in the season, with Girona entering La Liga for the first time in its history. At the end of the season,

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 ...

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

, and

Deportivo La Coruña ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable) Mexicable is an aerial lift line in Ecatepec de ...

were all relegated to 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 ...

Summary

Prior to the season, several teams hired new managers, among them the previous season's runners-up

, who enlisted the services of

from

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

after the exit of Luis Enrique. Meanwhile,

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, who had struggled in the previous campaign, hired Marcelino. In the transfer window, Barcelona were involved in the new world record transfer, selling Brazilian forward

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...

to French club

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

for €222 million. They replaced him with young Frenchman Ousmane Dembélé, who signed for an initial €105 million fee that could rise to €150 million. Defending champions Real Madrid sold striker

Álvaro Morata Álvaro Borja Morata Martín (born 23 October 1992) is a Spanish professional Football player, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Süper Lig club Galatasaray S.K. (football), Galatasaray, on Loan (sports), loa ...

to Chelsea for €80 million and lost veteran defender Pepe to Turkey's

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

on a free transfer, while its largest fee paid during the window was €24 million for young defender Théo Hernandez from city rivals

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

. Barcelona first topped the table on 16 September after winning 5–0 in its third match of the season against neighbours Espanyol, eventually making a run of seven wins from the start of the season that ended with a 1–1 draw at Atlético Madrid. Valencia improved on its previous campaign and began its new season well, with Marcelino getting the best out of players such as Italian striker Simone Zaza and on-loan Portuguese winger Gonçalo Guedes. Real Madrid struggled in the first half of the season, with problems including a smaller squad, injuries and the comparatively poorer goalscoring form of

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

relative to recent seasons. In January 2018, Barcelona added to its attack by spending €160 million on Brazilian Philippe Coutinho from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, while the end of a transfer ban allowed Atlético to register Diego Costa and Vitolo for action. Real Madrid manager

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; ; ''Zineddin Lyazid Zidan''; ; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as an attacking midfi ...

made no signings.

were the first team to be relegated, ending its ten-season stay in La Liga with its descent confirmed after a 0–1 loss against Levante on 19 April. Three days later,

' relegation was also confirmed after the Canarian team lost 0–4 at home to Alavés to end its three-year top flight status. On 29 April, Barcelona sealed its 25th league title with a 4–2 win at

, with

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 ...

scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

. Barcelona still had four matches to play, and it was the second part of its

, having earlier won the 2018 Copa del Rey Final. The result also made Deportivo the final of the three relegated teams, sending them back to

for the first time in four years. A day later,

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 ...

, under new manager Quique Setién, booked its entry to the UEFA Europa League following a 2–1 win over Málaga. Betis had a chance of occupying Spain's fourth UEFA Champions League spot after Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid, but that was soon taken by Valencia, which returned to the competition for the first time in three years. In its second-last match of the season,

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

drew 2–2 with city rivals Betis to confirm seventh place and qualification for the UEFA Europa League at the expense of

. Barcelona were on track to complete the first unbeaten La Liga season since the Spanish Civil War (and first in a 38-match season), but surprisingly lost its 37th match 4–5 at Levante, having only conceded 24 goals all season to that point.

Teams

Promotion and relegation (pre-season)

A total of 20 teams competed in the league: the 17 sides from the 2016–17 season and the three promoted from the

2016–17 Segunda División The 2016–17 Segunda División season, also known as LaLiga 1, 2, 3 for sponsorship reasons, was the 86th since its establishment. The fixtures were announced on 15 July 2016. Name Previously named Liga Adelante, the competition was renamed LaL ...

. This latter three included the two top teams from the Segunda División and the winners of the play-offs. Levante was the first team from Segunda División to achieve promotion, after a one-year absence from La Liga, on 29 April 2017 after winning 1–0 against

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

were promoted as the runners-up after drawing 0–0 against

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

on 4 June 2017, this was its first promotion to the top division. It became the 62nd team to participate in the Spanish top level league.

was the last to be promoted after defeating

Huesca Huesca (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. It is also the capital of the Spanish Huesca (province), ...

and

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

in the play-offs, one year after its relegation. The three promoted clubs replaced

Sporting Gijón Sporting may refer to: *Sport, recreational games and play *Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs *Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt *BFA Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon *Real Sporti ...

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 ...

and

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

, which were relegated at the end of the previous season.

Stadia and locations

played for the first season at their new stadium, Wanda Metropolitano, replacing the Vicente Calderón Stadium, where they played since its opening in 1966.

signed a sponsorship contract with Abanca for renaming their stadium as Abanca-Riazor.

completed their stadium renovation and it was grown to 60,720 seats, becoming the fourth biggest stadium in Spain. Meanwhile, after their first promotion ever to La Liga,

expanded

Estadi Montilivi Estadi Montilivi is a multi-use stadium in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is used mostly for Association football, football matches and serves as the home ground of Girona FC. It was built and opened in 1970. Montilivi has a capacity of 14,624. Hi ...

temporarily for hosting 13,450 spectators.

Personnel and sponsorship

:1. On the back of shirt. :2. On the sleeves. :3. On the shorts.

Managerial changes

League table

Standings

Results

Season statistics

Scoring

*First goal of the season:

Gabriel In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

for Leganés against Alavés (18 August 2017) *Last goal of the season:
Philippe Coutinho for Barcelona against Real Sociedad (20 May 2018)

Top goalscorers

Top assists

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.

Hat-tricks

;Note ⁴ Player scored 4 goals; (H) – Home; (A) – Away

Discipline

* Most yellow cards (club): 134 ** Getafe * Fewest yellow cards (club): 62 ** Real Sociedad * Most yellow cards (player): 16 ** Jefferson Lerma (Levante) * Most red cards (club): 8 ** Málaga * Fewest red cards (club): 0 ** Athletic Bilbao ** Girona * Most red cards (player): 2 ** Jordi Amat (Real Betis) ** Zdravko Kuzmanović (Málaga) **

Sergio Ramos Sergio Ramos García (; born 30 March 1986) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captain (association football), captains Liga MX club C.F. Monterrey, Monterrey. Regarded as one of the gr ...

(Real Madrid) ** Sergi Roberto (Barcelona)

Overall

*Most wins -

(28) *Fewest wins -

and Malaga (5) *Most draws - Espanyol, Levante and

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

(13) *Fewest draws - Alavés (2) *Most losses - Malaga (28) *Fewest losses -

(1) *Most goals scored -

(99) *Fewest goals scored -

and Malaga (24) *Most goals conceded -

(76) *Fewest goals conceded -

(22)

Average attendances

A match played behind closed doors is not included.

Awards

Monthly

Notes

References

External links

*
LaLiga 2017-2018
Estadísticas, noticias, informaciones sobre el fútbol en España {{DEFAULTSORT:La Liga, 2017-18 2017-18

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 ...