Season 2008–09 Matches played 380 | Champions Barcelona19th title Dates 30 Aug 2008 – 31 May 2009 Goals scored 1,101 | |
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Champions League Barcelona (group stage)Real Madrid (group stage)Sevilla (group stage)Atlético Madrid (playoff round) Europa League Villarreal (playoff round)Valencia (playoff round)Athletic Bilbao (third qualifying round) (via Copa del Rey) Biggest home win Real Madrid 7–1 Sporting(24 September 2008)Barcelona 6–0 Valladolid(8 November 2008)Barcelona 6–0 Málaga(22 March 2009) Similar | ||
The 2008–09 La Liga season (known as the Liga BBVA for sponsorship reasons) was the 78th since its establishment. Real Madrid were the defending champions, having won their 31st La Liga title in the previous season. The campaign began on 30 August 2008 and ended 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. In addition, a new match ball – the Nike T90 Omni – served as the official ball for all matches.
Contents
- Promotion and relegation
- Personnel and sponsoring
- League table
- Positions by round
- Results
- LFP Awards
- Pichichi Trophy
- Zamora Trophy
- Assists table
- Fair Play award
- Scoring
- Hat tricks
- Discipline
- References
On 16 May 2009, after Villarreal's 3–2 victory over Real Madrid, Barcelona were declared champions, their 19th La Liga title, with three matches to play. Lionel Messi received the inaugural LFP Award for Best Player from the Liga de Fútbol Profesional.
Promotion and relegation
Real Zaragoza, Real Murcia and Levante were relegated to the 2008–09 Segunda División 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 sides. Champions Numancia, who ended their second-level status after three years, runners-up Málaga, who returned to the top flight after two season in the second level, and Sporting de Gijón returned to the highest Spanish league after ten years.
Personnel and sponsoring
League table
Source: LFP and Yahoo! Sport
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored
1Since Barcelona, winners of the 2008–09 Copa del Rey, already qualified for the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League, losing cup finalists Athletic Bilbao earned a spot in the third qualifying round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Head-to-Head: used when head-to-head record is used to rank tied teams.
Positions by round
Source: kicker.de (German)
Results
Source: LFP (Spanish)
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For coming matches, an a indicates there is an article about the match.
LFP Awards
For the first time in La Liga's history, its governing body, the Liga de Fútbol Profesional, honoured the competition's best players and coach with the LFP Awards.
Pichichi Trophy
The Pichichi Trophy is awarded to the player who scores the most goals in a season.
Source: Yahoo! Sport
Zamora Trophy
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.
Source: LFP
Assists table
Fair Play award
Scoring
Luis García for Espanyol against Valladolid (30 August 2008)
Ricardo Oliveira for Real Betis against Valladolid (31 May 2009)
Hat-tricks
4 Player scored four goals(H) - Home ; (A) - Away