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 (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

were the defending champions.

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

-winning season for Barcelona, who also won the

2018 Copa del Rey Final The 2018 Copa del Rey Final was an Association football match played on 21 April 2018 to decide the winner of the 2017–18 Copa del Rey, the 116th edition of Spain's primary football cup (including two seasons where two rival editions were play ...

. Levante,

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capit ...

and

Getafe Getafe () is a 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 centre, within a flat ar ...

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 municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most po ...

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

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 a aerial lift line in Ecatepec de Mo ...

were all relegated to the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the L ...

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 ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los L ...

after the exit of

Luis Enrique Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player. A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playing in several different positions, but usually played as ...

. Meanwhile,

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, who had struggled in the previous campaign hired

Marcelino Marcelino is a surname that originated in Spain. There are also several families with the Marcelino surname in Philippines, Portugal, and the Americas (North, Central, and South). * San Marcelino, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Zam ...

. 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), known as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazil national team. A prolific goalscorer and renowned ...

to French club

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

for €222 million. They replaced him with young Frenchman

Ousmane Dembélé Masour Ousmane Dembélé (born 15 May 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as a winger for La Liga club Barcelona and the France national team. Dembélé began his career at Rennes before joining Borussia Dortmund in 2016. He ...

, who signed for an initial €105 million fee that could rise to €150 million. Defending champions Real Madrid sold striker Álvaro Morata to Chelsea for €80 million and lost veteran defender

Pepe Pepe is a pet form of the Spanish name José (Josep). It is also a surname. * People Mononyms * Pepe (footballer, born 1935), real name José Macia, Brazilian footballer *Pepe (footballer, born 1983), real name Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira ...

to Turkey's

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, ...

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

Theo Hernandez Theo is a given name and a hypocorism. Greek origin Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example: *Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...

from city rivals

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based i ...

. Barcelona first topped the table on 16 September after winning 5–0 in its third match of the season against neighbours

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

, 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 Simone Zaza (born 25 June 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker, most recently for club Torino. Zaza began his professional club career with Atalanta in 2008, where he remained for two seasons. In 2010, he moved ...

and on-loan Portuguese winger

Gonçalo Guedes Gonçalo Manuel Ganchinho Guedes (; born 29 November 1996) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Primeira Liga club Benfica, on loan from Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the Portugal national team. ...

. 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 footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pl ...

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

Philippe Coutinho Philippe Coutinho Correia (born 12 June 1992) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Brazil national team. He is known for his combination of vision, ...

from

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, while the end of a transfer ban allowed Atlético to register

Diego Costa Diego da Silva Costa (, ; born 7 October 1988), commonly known as Diego Costa, is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Spain national team. Costa began his football care ...

and Vitolo for action. Real Madrid manager

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the mos ...

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

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

, with

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the g ...

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 w ...

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

, having earlier won the

. 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 () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito ...

, 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 (; es, Sevilla, ) 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 ...

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 (; ast, Uviéu ) 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 the city. Oviedo is located a ...

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

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Province of Zaragoza, Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Ara ...

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 (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...

and

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the Archipelago, archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitant ...

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

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

and

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...

, 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 The Vicente Calderón Stadium ( es, Estadio Vicente Calderón ) was the home stadium of Atlético Madrid from its completion in 1966 to 2017, with a seating capacity of 54,907 and located on the banks of the Manzanares River, Manzanares, in the A ...

, 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 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 Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ� ...

for Leganés against Alavés (18 August 2017) *Last goal of the season:

for

against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septemb ...

(20 May 2018)

Top goalscorers

Zamora Trophy

The Zamora Trophy was awarded by newspaper '' Marca'' to the goalkeeper with the lowest 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.

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 Jordi Amat Maas (; ; born 21 March 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Malaysia Super League club Johor Darul Ta'zim and the Indonesia national team. He spent the better part of his career with Espanyol and Swan ...

(Real Betis) **

Zdravko Kuzmanović Zdravko Kuzmanović ( sr-Cyrl, Здравко Кузмановић, ; born 22 September 1987) is a Serbian footballer who plays as a defensive or central midfielder. He last played for FC Basel. He represented Serbia in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. ...

(Málaga) **

Sergio Ramos Sergio Ramos García (; born 30 March 1986) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Spain national team. Known for his aggressive play, he is widely regarded as one of the g ...

(Real Madrid) ** Sergi Roberto (Barcelona)

Overall

*Most wins -

(28) *Fewest wins -

and Malaga (5) *Most draws -

, Levante and

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

(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.

LFP Awards

Monthly

Number of teams by autonomous community

''Source'':

Notes

References

External links

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

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...