2016–17 La Liga

La Liga
Season 2016–17
Dates 20 August 2016 – 21 May 2017
Champions Real Madrid
33rd title
Relegated Sporting Gijón
Osasuna
Granada
Champions League Real Madrid
Barcelona
Atlético Madrid
Sevilla
Europa League Villarreal
Real Sociedad
Athletic Bilbao
Matches played 380
Goals scored 1,118 (2.94 per match)
Top goalscorer Lionel Messi
(37 goals)
Best goalkeeper Jan Oblak
(0.72 goals/match)
Biggest home win Atlético Madrid 7–1 Granada
(15 October 2016)
Barcelona 7–1 Osasuna
(26 April 2017)
Biggest away win Alavés 0–6 Barcelona
(11 February 2017)
Highest scoring Sevilla 6–4 Espanyol
(20 August 2016)
Longest winning run 7 matches
Barcelona
Longest winless run 21 matches
Osasuna
Longest losing run 8 matches
Granada
Highest attendance 95,961
Barcelona 1–1 Real Madrid
(3 December 2016)
Lowest attendance 3,576
Eibar 1–0 Valencia
(27 August 2016)
Total attendance 10,557,782
Average attendance 27,859
2017–18 →

The 2016–17 La Liga season, also known as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, was the 86th since its establishment. The season began on 19 August 2016 and concluded on 21 May 2017.

Real Madrid secured the title following their away victory at Málaga on the final matchday, finishing with 93 points and winning a record-extending 33rd championship, their first since the 2011–12 season. Barcelona finished second, three points behind Real Madrid. Real became only the second side after Barcelona in 2012–13 to score in all 38 games of a La Liga season.

Name sponsorship

The Spanish top flight dropped the sponsorship from BBVA and was now called LaLiga, while the second division was called LaLiga2. The league made this change to maximize the La Liga brand. On 20 July, Banco Santander was appointed as the new sponsor.

Teams

Promotion and relegation (pre-season)

A total of 20 teams contested the league, including 17 sides from the 2015–16 season and three promoted from the 2015–16 Segunda División. This included the two top teams from the Segunda División, and the winners of the play-offs.

Deportivo Alavés was the first team from Segunda División to achieve promotion, after a ten-year absence from La Liga, on 29 May 2016 after winning 2–0 against CD Numancia. CD Leganés was promoted as the runners-up after winning 1–0 at CD Mirandés in the last match-day, on 4 June 2016. This was Leganés' first promotion to the top division. CA Osasuna was the last to be promoted after beating Gimnàstic de Tarragona and Girona FC in the play-offs. The Reds returned to La Liga two years after their last relegation.

The three promoted clubs replaced Rayo Vallecano, Getafe, and Levante, who were relegated at the end of the previous season after five, twelve, and six years respectively.

Stadia and locations

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Alavés Vitoria-Gasteiz Mendizorrotza 19,840
Athletic Bilbao Bilbao San Mamés 53,289
Atlético Madrid Madrid Vicente Calderón 54,907
Barcelona Barcelona Camp Nou 99,354
Celta Vigo Vigo Balaídos 29,000
Deportivo La Coruña A Coruña Riazor 32,912
Eibar Eibar Ipurua 7,083
Espanyol Barcelona RCDE Stadium 40,500
Granada Granada Nuevo Los Cármenes 22,094
Las Palmas Las Palmas Gran Canaria 33,111
Leganés Leganés Butarque 10,922
Málaga Málaga La Rosaleda 30,044
Osasuna Pamplona El Sadar 18,761
Real Betis Seville Benito Villamarín 51,700
Real Madrid Madrid Santiago Bernabéu 85,454
Real Sociedad San Sebastián Anoeta 32,000
Sevilla Seville Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán 42,714
Sporting Gijón Gijón El Molinón 29,029
Valencia Valencia Mestalla 55,000
Villarreal Villarreal Estadio de la Cerámica 24,890

Personnel and sponsorship

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Alavés Mauricio Pellegrino Manu García Hummel LEA, Álava,, Kutxabank, Euskaltel, Heraclio Fournier
Athletic Bilbao Ernesto Valverde Gorka Iraizoz Nike Kutxabank
Atlético Madrid Diego Simeone Gabi Nike Plus500
Barcelona Luis Enrique Andrés Iniesta Nike Qatar Airways, UNICEF, Beko
Celta Vigo Eduardo Berizzo Hugo Mallo Adidas Estrella Galicia 0,0, Abanca
Deportivo La Coruña Pepe Mel Laure Lotto Estrella Galicia 0,0
Eibar José Luis Mendilibar Dani García Puma AVIA, Wiko
Espanyol Quique Sánchez Flores Javi López Joma Rastar Group, Riviera Maya
Granada Tony Adams Dimitri Foulquier Joma Energy King, Covirán
Las Palmas Quique Setién David García Acerbis Gran Canaria, IOC, beCordial Sports, Volkswagen, Domingo Alonso
Leganés Asier Garitano Martín Mantovani Joma Royal Jordanian, MBuzz Sport, GoldenPark
Málaga Míchel Duda Nike Marathonbet, Benahavís
Osasuna Petar Vasiljević Miguel Flaño Adidas Victorino Vicente
Real Betis Alexis Trujillo (interim) Joaquín Adidas Wiko
Real Madrid Zinedine Zidane Sergio Ramos Adidas Fly Emirates
Real Sociedad Eusebio Sacristán Xabi Prieto Adidas Qbao.com
Sevilla Jorge Sampaoli Vicente Iborra New Balance SeePuertoRico.com
Sporting Gijón Rubi Alberto Lora Nike Gijón, Nissan, Telecable, CMP, Halcón Viajes
Valencia Voro Enzo Pérez Adidas beIN Sports
Villarreal Fran Escribá Bruno Joma Pamesa Cerámica
1. ^ On the back of shirt.
2. ^ On the sleeves.
3. ^ On the shorts.

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of
departure 		Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of
appointment
Málaga Javi Gracia Signed by Rubin Kazan 24 May 2016 Pre-season Juande Ramos 28 May 2016
Espanyol Constantin Gâlcă Sacked 27 May 2016 Quique Sánchez Flores 9 June 2016
Deportivo La Coruña Víctor Sánchez 30 May 2016 Gaizka Garitano 10 June 2016
Sevilla Unai Emery Resigned 12 June 2016 Jorge Sampaoli 13 June 2016
Granada José González End of contract 20 June 2016 Paco Jémez 20 June 2016
Alavés José Bordalás Sacked 21 June 2016 Mauricio Pellegrino 26 June 2016
Villarreal Marcelino 10 August 2016 Fran Escribá 11 August 2016
Valencia Pako Ayestarán 20 September 2016 20th Cesare Prandelli 28 September 2016
Granada Paco Jémez 28 September 2016 19th Lucas Alcaraz 3 October 2016
Osasuna Enrique Martín 7 November 2016 19th Joaquín Caparrós 8 November 2016
Real Betis Gustavo Poyet 11 November 2016 14th Víctor Sánchez 11 November 2016
Málaga Juande Ramos Resigned 22 December 2016 11th Marcelo Romero 28 December 2016
Valencia Cesare Prandelli 30 December 2016 17th Voro 10 January 2017
Osasuna Joaquín Caparrós Sacked 5 January 2017 20th Petar Vasiljević 5 January 2017
Sporting Gijón Abelardo Fernández Mutual consent 17 January 2017 18th Rubi 17 January 2017
Deportivo La Coruña Gaizka Garitano Sacked 27 February 2017 17th Pepe Mel 27 February 2017
Málaga Marcelo Romero 7 March 2017 15th Míchel 7 March 2017
Granada Lucas Alcaraz 10 April 2017 19th Tony Adams 10 April 2017
Real Betis Víctor Sánchez 9 May 2017 15th Alexis Trujillo (interim) 9 May 2017

League table

Standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Real Madrid (C) 38 29 6 3 106 41 +65 93 Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2 Barcelona 38 28 6 4 116 37 +79 90
3 Atlético Madrid 38 23 9 6 70 27 +43 78
4 Sevilla 38 21 9 8 69 49 +20 72 Qualification for the Champions League play-off round
5 Villarreal 38 19 10 9 56 33 +23 67 Qualification for the Europa League group stage
6 Real Sociedad 38 19 7 12 59 53 +6 64
7 Athletic Bilbao 38 19 6 13 53 43 +10 63 Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round
8 Espanyol 38 15 11 12 49 50 −1 56
9 Alavés 38 14 13 11 41 43 −2 55
10 Eibar 38 15 9 14 56 51 +5 54
11 Málaga 38 12 10 16 49 55 −6 46
12 Valencia 38 13 7 18 56 65 −9 46
13 Celta Vigo 38 13 6 19 53 69 −16 45
14 Las Palmas 38 10 9 19 53 74 −21 39
15 Real Betis 38 10 9 19 41 64 −23 39
16 Deportivo La Coruña 38 8 12 18 43 61 −18 36
17 Leganés 38 8 11 19 36 55 −19 35
18 Sporting Gijón (R) 38 7 10 21 42 72 −30 31 Relegation to the Segunda División
19 Osasuna (R) 38 4 10 24 40 94 −54 22
20 Granada (R) 38 4 8 26 30 82 −52 20
Source: La Liga, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Fair-play points; 7) Play-off.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Since the winners of the 2016–17 Copa del Rey, Barcelona, qualified for European competition based on league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners (Europa League group stage) was passed to the sixth-placed team and the spot awarded to the sixth-placed team (Europa League third qualifying round) was passed to the seventh-placed team.
  2. Málaga ahead of Valencia on head-to-head points: Valencia–Málaga 2–2, Málaga–Valencia 2–0
  3. Las Palmas ahead of Real Betis on head-to-head goal difference: Las Palmas–Real Betis 4–1, Real Betis–Las Palmas 2–0

Results

Home \ Away ALV ATH ATM FCB CEL RCD EIB ESP GCF LPA LEG MCF OSA RBB RMA RSO SFC RSG VCF VIL
Alavés — 1–0 0–0 0–6 3–1 0–0 0–0 0–1 3–1 1–1 2–2 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–4 1–0 1–1 0–0 2–1 2–1
Athletic Bilbao 0–0 — 2–2 0–1 2–1 2–1 3–1 2–0 3–1 5–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–2 3–2 3–1 2–1 2–1 1–0
Atlético Madrid 1–1 3–1 — 1–2 3–2 1–0 1–0 0–0 7–1 1–0 2–0 4–2 3–0 1–0 0–3 1–0 3–1 5–0 3–0 0–1
Barcelona 1–2 3–0 1–1 — 5–0 4–0 4–2 4–1 1–0 5–0 2–1 0–0 7–1 6–2 1–1 3–2 3–0 6–1 4–2 4–1
Celta Vigo 1–0 0–3 0–4 4–3 — 4–1 0–2 2–2 3–1 3–1 0–1 3–1 3–0 0–1 1–4 2–2 0–3 2–1 2–1 0–1
Deportivo La Coruña 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–1 0–1 — 2–1 1–2 0–0 3–0 1–2 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–6 5–1 2–3 2–1 1–1 0–0
Eibar 0–0 0–1 0–2 0–4 1–0 3–1 — 1–1 4–0 3–1 2–0 3–0 2–3 3–1 1–4 2–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 2–1
Espanyol 1–0 0–0 0–1 0–3 0–2 1–1 3–3 — 3–1 4–3 3–0 2–2 3–0 2–1 0–2 1–2 3–1 2–1 0–1 0–0
Granada 2–1 1–2 0–1 1–4 0–3 1–1 1–2 1–2 — 1–0 0–1 0–2 1–1 4–1 0–4 0–2 2–1 0–0 1–3 1–1
Las Palmas 1–1 3–1 0–5 1–4 3–3 1–1 1–0 0–0 5–1 — 1–1 1–0 5–2 4–1 2–2 0–1 0–1 1–0 3–1 1–0
Leganés 1–1 0–0 0–0 1–5 0–2 4–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 3–0 — 0–0 2–0 4–0 2–4 0–2 2–3 0–2 1–2 0–0
Málaga 1–2 2–1 0–2 2–0 3–0 4–3 2–1 0–1 1–1 2–1 4–0 — 1–1 1–2 0–2 0–2 4–2 3–2 2–0 0–2
Osasuna 0–1 1–2 0–3 0–3 0–0 2–2 1–1 1–2 2–1 2–2 2–1 1–1 — 1–2 1–3 0–2 3–4 2–2 3–3 1–4
Real Betis 1–4 1–0 1–1 1–1 3–3 0–0 2–0 0–1 2–2 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 — 1–6 2–3 1–2 0–0 0–0 0–1
Real Madrid 3–0 2–1 1–1 2–3 2–1 3–2 1–1 2–0 5–0 3–3 3–0 2–1 5–2 2–1 — 3–0 4–1 2–1 2–1 1–1
Real Sociedad 3–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–2 1–1 2–1 4–1 1–1 2–2 3–2 1–0 0–3 — 0–4 3–1 3–2 0–1
Sevilla 2–1 1–0 1–0 1–2 2–1 4–2 2–0 6–4 2–0 2–1 1–1 4–1 5–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 — 0–0 2–1 0–0
Sporting Gijón 2–4 2–1 1–4 0–5 1–1 0–1 2–3 1–1 3–1 1–0 2–1 0–1 3–1 2–2 2–3 1–3 1–1 — 1–2 1–3
Valencia 2–1 2–0 0–2 2–3 3–2 3–0 0–4 2–1 1–1 2–4 1–0 2–2 4–1 2–3 2–1 2–3 0–0 1–1 — 1–3
Villarreal 0–2 3–1 3–0 1–1 5–0 0–0 2–3 2–0 2–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 3–1 2–0 2–3 2–1 0–0 3–1 0–2 —
Source: La Liga, RFEF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

La Liga champions Real Madrid celebrate their win with Community of Madrid President Cristina Cifuentes.

Scoring

Top goalscorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Lionel Messi Barcelona 37
2 Luis Suárez Barcelona 29
3 Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 25
4 Iago Aspas Celta Vigo 19
5 Aritz Aduriz Athletic Bilbao 16
Antoine Griezmann Atlético Madrid
7 Álvaro Morata Real Madrid 15
8 Sandro Ramírez Málaga 14
9 Rubén Castro Real Betis 13
Gerard Moreno Espanyol
Neymar Barcelona
12 Florin Andone Deportivo la Coruna 12
Willian Jose Real Sociedad
Kevin Gameiro Sevilla

Top assists

Rank Player Club Assists
1 Neymar Barcelona 15
2 Luis Suárez Barcelona 14
3 Toni Kroos Real Madrid 12
4 Marcelo Real Madrid 10
Pablo Piatti Espanyol
6 Lionel Messi Barcelona 9
7 Ángel Correa Atlético Madrid 8
Antoine Griezmann Atlético Madrid
Isco Real Madrid
Koke Atlético Madrid
Pablo Sarabia Sevilla

Zamora Trophy

The Zamora Trophy is awarded by newspaper Marca to the goalkeeper with least goals-to-games ratio. A goalkeeper had to have played at least 28 games of 60 or more minutes to be eligible for the trophy.

Rank Name Club Goals
Against 		Matches Average
1 Jan Oblak Atlético Madrid 21 29 0.72
2 Marc-André ter Stegen Barcelona 33 36 0.92
3 Diego López Espanyol 37 33 1.12
4 Fernando Pacheco Alavés 42 36 1.17
5 Sergio Rico Sevilla 45 35 1.29

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of La Liga hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Round Reference
Luis Suárez Barcelona Real Betis 6–2 (H) 20 August 2016 1 [1]
Yannick Carrasco Atlético Madrid Granada 7–1 (H) 15 October 2016 8 [2]
Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid Alavés 4–1 (A) 29 October 2016 10 [3]
Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid Atlético Madrid 3–0 (A) 19 November 2016 12 [4]
Vicente Iborra Sevilla Celta Vigo 3–0 (A) 11 December 2016 15 [5]
Wissam Ben Yedder Sevilla Real Sociedad 4–0 (A) 7 January 2017 17 [6]
Kevin Gameiro Atlético Madrid Sporting Gijón 4–1 (A) 18 February 2017 23 [7]
Giuseppe Rossi Celta Vigo Las Palmas 3–1 (H) 3 April 2017 29 [8]
Álvaro Morata Real Madrid Leganés 4–2 (A) 5 April 2017 30 [9]
Neymar Barcelona Las Palmas 4–1 (A) 14 May 2017 37 [10]

(H) – Home ; (A) – Away

Discipline

Overall

Average attendances

Alavés supporters before their first league match at home, against Sporting Gijón
Leganés supporters celebrating their team's goal against Barcelona.
Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Barcelona 1,463,653 95,961 55,029 77,034 −1.6%†
2 Real Madrid 1,292,537 82,297 59,575 68,028 +0.5%†
3 Atlético Madrid 848,754 53,668 31,059 44,671 +3.4%†
4 Athletic Bilbao 781,285 49,164 33,625 41,120 −2.0%†
5 Valencia 645,032 46,804 23,156 33,949 −9.1%†
6 Sevilla 623,953 40,835 26,100 32,840 −3.4%†
7 Real Betis 623,333 41,714 22,270 32,807 −9.2%†
8 Sporting Gijón 428,313 25,899 15,365 22,543 −2.8%†
9 Deportivo La Coruña 425,077 30,810 18,466 22,372 −2.8%†
10 Málaga 420,630 28,486 12,996 22,138 +4.8%†
11 Real Sociedad 406,832 27,653 10,927 21,412 +5.3%†
12 Las Palmas 387,416 27,724 15,946 20,390 −3.8%†
13 Espanyol 381,428 31,082 14,813 20,075 +9.5%†
14 Villarreal 329,951 22,110 14,757 17,366 +3.6%†
15 Celta Vigo 312,773 20,034 11,391 16,462 −8.6%†
16 Alavés 288,310 19,540 12,628 15,174 +34.1%1
17 Granada 284,890 19,161 10,706 14,994 −5.5%†
18 Osasuna 281,445 17,802 11,332 14,813 +7.2%1
19 Leganés 177,029 10,599 7,903 9,317 +81.6%1
20 Eibar 100,922 6,694 3,576 5,312 +2.1%†
League total 10,503,563 95,961 3,576 27,641 −0.2%†

Source: La Liga boxscores
Notes:
1: Team played last season in Segunda División.

LFP Awards

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos and Community of Madrid President Cristina Cifuentes with the Primera División trophy during celebrations in Madrid.

Seasonal

La Liga's governing body, the Liga de Fútbol Profesional, honoured the competition's best players and coach with the La Liga Awards..

Recipient
Best Player Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Best Goalkeeper Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid)
Best Coach José Luis Mendilibar (Eibar) and Asier Garitano (Leganés)

Monthly

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Reference
Manager Club Player Club
August Quique Setién Las Palmas Jon Ander Serantes Leganés
September Ernesto Valverde Athletic Bilbao Antoine Griezmann Atlético Madrid
October Jorge Sampaoli Sevilla Iago Aspas Celta Vigo
November Eusebio Sacristán Real Sociedad Diego López Espanyol
December Fran Escribá Villarreal Florin Andone Deportivo La Coruña
January Eduardo Berizzo Celta Vigo Steven Nzonzi Sevilla
February José Luis Mendilibar Eibar Sergi Enrich Eibar
March Diego Simeone Atlético Madrid Antoine Griezmann Atlético Madrid
April Míchel Málaga Lionel Messi Barcelona
May Zinedine Zidane Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid