2010–11 La Liga

La Liga 2010-11
Season information
Winners	Barcelona 21st title
Relegated	Deportivo La Coruña Hércules Almería
Continental cup qualifiers
Champions League	Barcelona Real Madrid Valencia Villarreal
Europa League	Sevilla Athletic Bilbao Atlético Madrid
Season statistics
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1042
Average	3.33
Top goalscorer	Cristiano Ronaldo (40)
Biggest home win	Real Madrid 7–0 Málaga (3 March 2011)
Biggest away win	Almería 0–8 Barcelona (20 November 2010)
Highest scoring	Valencia 3–6 Real Madrid (23 April 2011)
← 2009–10	2011–12 →

The 2010–11 La Liga season (known as the Liga BBVA for sponsorship reasons) 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 4 times in 17 days, for a total of 5 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

Real Valladolid, 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

Team	Club home city	Stadium	Capacity
Almería	Almería	Estadio del Mediterráneo	22,000
Athletic Bilbao	Bilbao	San Mamés	39,750
Atlético Madrid	Madrid	Vicente Calderón	54,851
Barcelona	Barcelona	Camp Nou	99,354
Deportivo La Coruña	A Coruña	Riazor	34,600
Espanyol	Barcelona	Estadi Cornellà-El Prat	40,500
Getafe	Getafe	Coliseum Alfonso Pérez	17,700
Hércules	Alicante	Estadio José Rico Pérez	30,000
Levante	Valencia	Estadi Ciutat de València	25,534
Málaga	Málaga	La Rosaleda	28,963
Mallorca	Palma	Iberostar	23,142
Osasuna	Pamplona	Estadio Reyno de Navarra	19,800
Racing de Santander	Santander	El Sardinero	22,271
Real Madrid	Madrid	Santiago Bernabéu	80,354
Real Sociedad	San Sebastián	Estadio Anoeta	32,076
Sevilla	Sevilla	Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán	45,500
Sporting de Gijón	Gijón	El Molinón	29,800
Valencia	Valencia	Mestalla	55,000
Villarreal	Vila-real	El Madrigal	25,000
Zaragoza	Zaragoza	La Romareda	34,596

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Chairman	Head Coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Almería	Alfonso García	Roberto Olabe	José Ortiz	Rasán	Urcisol.com
Athletic Bilbao	Fernando Macua	Joaquín Caparrós	Pablo Orbaiz	Umbro	Petronor
Atlético Madrid	Enrique Cerezo	Quique Sánchez Flores	Antonio López	Nike	KIA
Barcelona	Sandro Rosell	Pep Guardiola	Carles Puyol	Nike	UNICEF
Deportivo La Coruña	Augusto Lendoiro	Miguel Ángel Lotina	Manuel Pablo	Lotto	Estrella Galicia
Espanyol	Daniel Sánchez Llibre	Mauricio Pochettino	Iván de la Peña	Li-Ning	Interwetten
Getafe	Ángel Torres	Míchel	Javier Casquero	Joma	Burger King
Hércules	Valentín Botella Ros	Miroslav Đukić	Paco Peña	Nike	Comunitat Valenciana
Levante	Quico Catalán	Luis García Plaza	Sergio Ballesteros	Luanvi	Comunitat Valenciana
Málaga	Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani	Manuel Pellegrini	Francesc Arnau	Li Ning
Mallorca	Jaume Cladera	Michael Laudrup	Nunes	Macron	bet-at-home.com
Osasuna	Patxi Izco	José Luis Mendilibar	Javad Nekounam	Astore
Racing de Santander	Francisco Pernía	Marcelino	Pablo Pinillos	SLAM	Palacios
Real Madrid	Florentino Pérez	José Mourinho	Iker Casillas	Adidas	Bwin
Real Sociedad	Jokin Aperribay	Martín Lasarte	Mikel Aranburu	Astore	Gipuzkoa Euskararekin Bat
Sevilla	José María del Nido	Gregorio Manzano	Andrés Palop	Joma	12bet.com
Sporting de Gijón	Manuel Vega-Arango	Manolo Preciado	Rafel Sastre	Astore	Gijón / Asturias
Valencia	Manuel Llorente	Unai Emery	Vicente	Kappa	Unibet
Villarreal	Fernando Roig	Juan Carlos Garrido	Marcos Senna	Puma	Aeroport Castelló
Zaragoza	Agapito Iglesias	Javier Aguirre	Gabi	Adidas	Proniño

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

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Mallorca	Gregorio Manzano	End of contract	19 May 2010	Michael Laudrup	2 July 2010	5th (2009–10)
Real Madrid	Manuel Pellegrini	Sacked	26 May 2010	José Mourinho	28 May 2010	2nd (2009–10)
Málaga	Juan Muñiz	Sacked	16 June 2010	Jesualdo Ferreira	17 June 2010	17th (2009–10)
Sevilla	Antonio Álvarez	Sacked	26 September 2010	Gregorio Manzano	26 September 2010	7th
Málaga	Jesualdo Ferreira	Sacked	2 November 2010	Manuel Pellegrini	2 November 2010	18th
Zaragoza	José Aurelio Gay	Sacked	17 November 2010	Javier Aguirre	17 November 2010	20th
Almería	Juanma Lillo	Sacked	20 November 2010	José Luis Oltra	24 November 2010	19th
Racing de Santander	Miguel Ángel Portugal	Sacked	7 February 2011	Marcelino	9 February 2011	16th
Osasuna	José Antonio Camacho	Sacked	14 February 2011	José Luis Mendilibar	14 February 2011	18th
Hércules	Esteban Vigo	Sacked	20 March 2011	Miroslav Đukić	23 March 2011	20th
Almería	José Luis Oltra	Sacked	5 April 2011	Roberto Olabe	5 April 2011	20th

League table

2010–11 La Liga Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Barcelona  (C)	38	30	6	2	95	21	+74	96	2011-12 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2	Real Madrid	38	29	5	4	102	33	+69	92
3	Valencia	38	21	8	9	64	44	+20	71
4	Villarreal	38	18	8	12	54	44	+10	62	2011-12 UEFA Champions League Play-off round
5	Sevilla	38	17	7	14	62	61	+1	58	2011-12 UEFA Europa League Play-off round
6	Athletic Bilbao	38	18	4	16	59	55	+4	58
7	Atlético Madrid	38	17	7	14	62	53	+9	58	2011-12 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round 1
8	Espanyol	38	15	4	19	46	55	−9	49
9	Osasuna	38	13	8	17	45	46	−1	47
10	Sporting de Gijón	38	11	14	13	35	42	−7	47
11	Málaga	38	13	7	18	54	68	−14	46
12	Racing Santander	38	12	10	16	41	56	−15	46
13	Zaragoza	38	12	9	17	40	53	−13	45
14	Levante	38	12	9	17	41	52	−11	45
15	Real Sociedad	38	14	3	21	49	66	−17	45
16	Getafe	38	12	8	18	49	60	−11	44
17	Mallorca	38	12	8	18	41	56	−15	44
18	Deportivo La Coruña  (R)	38	10	13	15	31	47	−16	43	Relegation to the  Segunda División
19	Hércules  (R)	38	9	8	21	36	60	−24	35
20	Almería  (R)	38	6	12	20	36	70	−34	30

Source: LFP, sportec.es, Yahoo! Sport
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th goal difference; 6th number of goals scored; 7th Fair-play points.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Results

Home \ Away

ALM

ATH

ATM

BAR

DEP

ESP

GET

HÉR

LEV

MLG

MAL

OSA

RAC

RMA

RSO

SEV

SPG

VAL

VIL

ZAR

Almería

1–3

2–2

0–8

1–1

3–2

2–3

1–1

0–1

1–1

3–1

3–2

1–1

1–1

2–2

0–1

1–1

0–3

0–0

1–1

Athletic Bilbao

1–0

1–2

1–3

1–2

2–1

3–0

3–0

3–2

1–1

3–0

1–0

2–1

0–3

2–1

2–0

3–0

1–2

0–1

2–1

Atlético Madrid

1–1

0–2

1–2

2–0

2–3

2–0

2–1

4–1

0–3

3–0

3–0

0–0

1–2

3–0

2–2

4–0

1–2

3–1

1–0

Barcelona

3–1

2–1

3–0

0–0

2–0

2–1

0–2

2–1

4–1

1–1

2–0

3–0

5–0

5–0

5–0

1–0

2–1

3–1

1–0

Deportivo La Coruña

0–2

2–1

0–1

0–4

3–0

2–2

1–0

0–1

3–0

2–1

0–0

2–0

0–0

2–1

3–3

1–1

0–2

1–0

0–0

Espanyol

1–0

2–1

2–2

1–5

2–0

3–1

3–0

2–1

1–0

1–2

1–0

1–2

0–1

4–1

2–3

1–0

2–2

0–1

4–0

Getafe

2–0

2–2

1–1

1–3

4–1

1–3

3–0

4–1

0–2

3–0

2–0

0–1

2–3

0–4

1–0

3–0

2–4

1–0

1–1

Hércules

1–2

0–1

4–1

0–3

1–0

0–0

0–0

3–1

4–1

2–2

0–4

2–3

1–3

2–1

2–0

0–0

1–2

2–2

2–1

Levante

1–0

1–2

2–0

1–1

1–2

1–0

2–0

2–1

3–1

1–1

2–1

3–1

0–0

2–1

1–4

0–0

0–1

1–2

1–2

Málaga

3–1

1–1

0–3

1–3

0–0

2–0

2–2

3–1

1–0

3–0

0–1

4–1

1–4

1–2

1–2

2–0

1–3

2–3

1–2

Mallorca

4–1

1–0

3–4

0–3

0–0

0–1

2–0

3–0

2–1

2–0

2–0

0–1

0–0

2–0

2–2

0–4

1–2

0–0

1–0

Osasuna

0–0

1–2

2–3

0–3

0–0

4–0

0–0

3–0

1–1

3–0

1–1

3–1

1–0

3–1

3–2

1–0

1–0

1–0

0–0

Racing Santander

1–0

1–2

2–1

0–3

1–0

0–0

0–1

0–0

1–1

1–2

2–0

4–1

1–3

2–1

3–2

1–1

1–1

2–2

2–0

Real Madrid

8–1

5–1

2–0

1–1

6–1

3–0

4–0

2–0

2–0

7–0

1–0

1–0

6–1

4–1

1–0

0–1

2–0

4–2

2–3

Real Sociedad

2–0

2–0

2–4

2–1

3–0

1–0

1–1

1–3

1–1

0–2

1–0

1–0

1–0

1–2

2–3

2–1

1–2

1–0

2–1

Sevilla

1–3

4–3

3–1

1–1

0–0

1–2

1–3

1–0

4–1

0–0

1–2

1–0

1–1

2–6

3–1

3–0

2–0

3–2

3–1

Sporting de Gijón

1–0

2–2

1–0

1–1

2–2

1–0

2–0

2–0

1–1

1–2

2–0

1–0

2–1

0–1

1–3

2–0

0–2

1–1

0–0

Valencia

2–1

2–1

1–1

0–1

2–0

2–1

2–0

2–0

0–0

4–3

1–2

3–3

1–0

3–6

3–0

0–1

0–0

5–0

1–1

Villarreal

2–0

4–1

2–0

0–1

1–0

4–0

2–1

1–0

0–1

1–1

3–1

4–2

2–0

1–3

2–1

1–0

1–1

1–1

1–0

Zaragoza

1–0

2–1

0–1

0–2

1–0

1–0

2–1

0–0

1–0

3–5

3–2

1–3

1–1

1–3

2–1

1–2

2–2

4–0

0–3

Source: LFP and futbol.sportec (Spanish)
¹The 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.

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 (Barcelona)
Best Coach	Pep Guardiola (Barcelona)
Best Goalkeeper	Víctor Valdés (Barcelona)
Best Defender	Éric Abidal (Barcelona)
Best Midfielder(s)	Xavi (born 1980) (Barcelona) Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)
Best Forward	Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Top goalscorers

LFP This is the list of goalscorers in accordance with the LFP as organising body. Rank Player Club Goals 1 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 40 2 Lionel Messi Barcelona 31 3 Sergio Agüero Atlético Madrid 20 Álvaro Negredo Sevilla 20 5 Fernando Llorente Athletic Bilbao 18 Giuseppe Rossi Villarreal 18 Roberto Soldado Valencia 18 David Villa Barcelona 18 9 Karim Benzema Real Madrid 15 10 Salomón Rondón Málaga 14 Source: LFP, ESPN and Liga BBVA

Pichichi Trophy The Pichichi Trophy is awarded by newspaper Marca to the player who scores the most goals in a season, according to its own rules (different from the ones used by FIFA) to determine the goalscorer. Rank Player Club Goals Penalties 1 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 41 8 2 Lionel Messi Barcelona 31 4 3 Sergio Agüero Atlético Madrid 20 1 Álvaro Negredo Sevilla 20 3 5 Fernando Llorente Athletic Bilbao 18 0 Giuseppe Rossi Villarreal 18 4 Roberto Soldado Valencia 18 1 David Villa Barcelona 18 0 9 Karim Benzema Real Madrid 15 0 10 Salomón Rondón Málaga 14 0 Source: Marca

Assists table

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	18
2	Mesut Özil	Real Madrid	17
3	Dani Alves	Barcelona	15
4	Xabi Prieto	Real Sociedad	13
5	Juan Mata	Valencia	12
6	Ángel Di María	Real Madrid	11
7	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	10
	Santi Cazorla	Villarreal	10
9	Valdo	Levante	8
	Borja Valero	Villarreal	8

• Source: ESPN Soccernet

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.

Rank	Name	Club	Goals Against	Matches	Average
1	Víctor Valdés	Barcelona	16	32	0.50
2	Iker Casillas	Real Madrid	32	34	0.94
3	Daniel Aranzubia	Deportivo La Coruña	36	32	1.13
4	Diego López	Villarreal	44	38	1.16
5	Ricardo	Osasuna	46	38	1.21

• Source: futbol.sportec

Fair Play award

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.

Rank	Team	Games								Total Points
1	Barcelona	38	95	1	1	–	–	–	–	100
2	Mallorca	38	90	1	3	–	–	–	–	101
3	Racing de 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
	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
	Valencia	38	130	4	2	–	125	–	–	149
20	Zaragoza	38	125	3	4	–	18	1 Mild31	–	153

• Source: 2010–11 Fair Play Rankings Season.

Sources of cards and penalties: Referee's reports, Competition Committee's Sanctions, Appeal Committee Resolutions and RFEF's Directory about Fair Play Rankings

Legend:

Icon	Term	Points of sanction	Description
	Yellow Card	1 point/yellow card
	Double Yellow Card/Ejection	2 points/double yellow card
	Direct Red Card	3 points/red card
	Games of Suspension (Player)	As many as banned games	When a player is banned for play more than 3 future games. This punishment overrides the possible red card which caused this sanction
	Games of Suspension (Club's Personnel)	5 points/banned game	When some person of the club (not player) is banned for x future games. This punishment overrides the possible red card which caused this sanction
	Audience Behaviour	Mild (5 points) Serious (6 points) Very Serious (7 points)	When the audience makes some altercations such as explosions, flares, throwing objects to the ground, racist chanting, etc.
	Closure of Stadium	10 points/match with closured stadium	When serious incidents happen which are punished by the closure of the stadium
It also accounts cards to non-players
The number in superscript is the corresponding round to the sanction
Important note: This table is not a count of cards and sanctions resulting from the matches, this table takes into account the removal or application of some cards and sanctions by the competent bodies (Competition Committee, Appeal Committee and Spanish Sports Disciplinary Committee)

Pedro Zaballa award

Real Madrid

Season statistics

Scoring

• First goal of the season:
  Fernando Llorente for Athletic Bilbao against Hércules (28 August 2010).
• Last goal of the season:
  Kennedy Bakircioglu for Racing de Santander against Athletic Bilbao (21 May 2011).

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Reference
Cristiano Ronaldo4	Real Madrid	Racing de Santander	6–1 (H)	23 October 2010	[1]
Lionel Messi	Barcelona	Almería	8–0 (A)	20 November 2010	[2]
Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	5–1 (H)	20 November 2010	[3]
Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	Villarreal	4–2 (H)	9 January 2011	[4]
Luís Fabiano	Sevilla	Levante	4–1 (H)	22 January 2011	[5]
Lionel Messi	Barcelona	Atlético Madrid	3–0 (H)	5 February 2011	[6]
Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	Málaga	7–0 (H)	3 March 2011	[7]
Roberto Soldado4	Valencia	Getafe	4–2 (A)	2 April 2011	[8]
Diego Costa	Atlético Madrid	Osasuna	3–2 (A)	3 April 2011	[9]
Gonzalo Higuaín	Real Madrid	Valencia	6–3 (A)	23 April 2011	[10]
Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	Sevilla	6–2 (A)	7 May 2011	[11]
Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	Getafe	3–0 (H)	10 May 2011	[12]
Emmanuel Adebayor	Real Madrid	Almeria	8–1 (H)	21 May 2011	[13]
Sergio Agüero	Atlético Madrid	Mallorca	4–2 (A)	21 May 2011	[14]

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

Discipline

• First yellow card of the season: Noé Pamarot for Hércules against Athletic Bilbao (28 August 2010)
• First red card of the season: Matías Fritzler for Hércules against Athletic Bilbao (28 August 2010)

External links

• LigaBBVA.com

Template:2010–11 in Spanish football Template:2010–11 in European Football (UEFA)