The 2013–14

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

season (known as the ''Liga BBVA'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 83rd since its establishment. Matchdays were drawn on 9 July 2013. The season began on 17 August 2013 and concluded on 18 May 2014; all top-flight European leagues ended earlier than the previous season due to the upcoming

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

Elche Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

and

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

competed in La Liga this season after being promoted from the second tier.

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

traded the lead several times throughout the season. Entering the final weekend of play, Atlético Madrid were three points ahead of 2013 champions Barcelona. However, with the two teams facing off, Barcelona could claim the title with a win. The game ended in a draw, giving the ''Colchoneros'' their first league title in eighteen years, and their tenth overall. It was the first time since the 2003–04 season that a club other than Barcelona or Real Madrid, who finished second and third respectively, had won the title.

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 ...

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

and

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 ...

finished in the bottom three and were relegated.

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 ...

won the La Liga Award for Best Player for the first time. As the top scorer with 31 goals, Ronaldo also won the

Pichichi Trophy In Spanish Association football, football, the Pichichi Trophy () is awarded by the sports newspaper ''Marca (newspaper), Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Pichichi (footballer), Rafael ...

, along with sharing the

European Golden Shoe The European Golden Shoe, also known as the European Golden Boot, is an award that is presented each season to the player with the most points in league matches from the top division of a European national league. The trophy is a sculpture o ...

. Ángel Di María had the most assists, with 17.

Thibaut Courtois Thibaut Nicolas Marc Courtois (; ; born 11 May 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Belgium national team. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is known ...

won the Zamora Trophy for best goalkeeper.

Teams

Promotion and relegation (pre-season)

A total of twenty teams contested the league, including seventeen sides from the 2012–13 season and three promoted from the

2012–13 Segunda División The 2012–13 Segunda División season (known as the Liga Adelante for sponsorship reasons) was the 82nd since its establishment. The season started on 17 August 2012 and the league phase of 42 rounds ended on 9 June 2013. The entire season ende ...

. This included the top two ranked teams from the Segunda División, and the victorious team of the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

were relegated to the

2013–14 Segunda División The 2013–14 Segunda División season (known as the ''Liga Adelante'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 83rd since its establishment. The season started on 17 August 2013 and the league phase of 42 rounds ended on 8 June 2014. The entire season en ...

at the end of the previous season; Mallorca were relegated after sixteen years in

, the longest period in the club's history, Zaragoza returned to the Segunda División after a four-year tenure in La Liga, and Deportivo made an immediate return to the second tier after being promoted the previous year. All three teams were relegated on the final matchday. The three relegated teams were replaced by three

sides:

returned to the top level as Segunda División champions, after 24 years of absence and having spent the last fourteen consecutive seasons in the Segunda División. Second-placed

were also promoted to La Liga, making an immediate return to the top flight after a win over

in a decisive match near the end of the season which would see the winners directly promoted to La Liga. Almería themselves also eventually achieved promotion; the club returned to the Spanish top flight after spending two years in the Segunda by defeating

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 ...

in the final of the promotion play-offs. This was the first season since the 1988–89 campaign without any teams from the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

s of Spain (teams located on the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

and

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

) in the top flight, as Mallorca were relegated and

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 ...

failed to return to La Liga after losing in the semi-finals of the promotion play-offs.

Stadium and locations

Personnel and sponsorship

:2. On the back of shirt. :3. Barcelona made a donation to UNICEF in order to display the charity's logo on the back of the club's kit. :4. On the shorts. :5. Málaga made a donation to UNESCO in order to display the charity's logo on the club's kit. As in the previous years,

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

provided the official ball for all matches, with a new Nike Incyte Liga BBVA model being used throughout the season for all matches.

Managerial changes

;Notes # Announcement date. The appointment was made effective since 1 July 2013.

Season summary

The 2013–14

season was the 83rd since its establishment. Match days were drawn on 9 July 2013. The season began on 17 August 2013 and ended on 18 May 2014. For the first time since 1951 and just the third time in league history, the

title came down to a head-to-head match on the final weekend of play.

were three points ahead of 2013 champion

, but had its final game on the road in

. Barcelona took a 1–0 lead into the half and Atlético lost two starters to injury in the half. A second half header, however, secured a 1–1 draw, earning the ''Colchoneros'' their first league title in 18 years, and their 10th overall. It was the first time since the

2003–04 La Liga The 2003–04 La Liga season was the 73rd since its establishment. It began on 30 August 2003, and concluded on 23 May 2004. Valencia were crowned champions for the sixth time in club history. Teams Twenty teams competed in the league – t ...

that a club other than Barcelona or Real Madrid, which finished tied for second, won the title. It was also the first time in the 67-year history of the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

stadium that a visiting team had clinched the title in the stadium. The emergence of

Diego Costa Diego da Silva Costa (, ; born 7 October 1988) is a professional Association football, footballer who most recently played as a Striker (association football), striker for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Grêmio FBPA, Grêmio. Costa be ...

and Koke was a large part of Atlético Madrid's success. Costa scored 36 goals on the season (27 in league play), including the winner in Atlético's first victory over Real Madrid since 1999. Koke had 18 assists on the year (13 in league play), to go with seven goals. Earlier in the season,

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 ...

scored a hat-trick as Barcelona ended a 31-match unbeaten streak for Real Madrid. The same day, Atlético beat Real Betis to claim the league lead. A loss against Levante and draw against Málaga left Atlético vulnerable heading into their final match.

won the league scoring title with 31 goals. Messi was second and Costa third. Ángel Di María had most assists with 17.

won the

Ricardo Zamora Trophy The Zamora Trophy () is a football award, established by Spanish newspaper '' Marca'' in 1958. The award goes to the goalkeeper who has the lowest "goals-to-games" ratio.Similar to goals against average in ice hockey or earned run average in b ...

for best goalkeeper. Barcelona was the least penalised team.

League table

Results

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

The

is awarded by newspaper '' Marca'' to the player who scores the most goals in a season.

Top assists

Zamora Trophy

The

is 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

⁴ Player scored four goals
⁵ Player scored five goals
(H) – Home; (A) – Away

Discipline

* Most yellow cards (club): 102 ** Málaga * Most yellow cards (player): 15 ** Alberto Botía (Elche) * Most red cards (club): 8 ** Real Betis ** Rayo Vallecano ** Osasuna * Most red cards (player): 2 ** 6 players

Attendances

Awards

Seasonal

La Liga's governing body, the

Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Amer ...

, honoured the competition's best players and coach with the

La Liga Awards The La Liga Awards, previously known as the LFP awards, are presented annually by the Liga de Fútbol Profesional (LFP) to the best players and coach in La Liga, the first division of association football in Spain. Established in the 2008–09 s ...

Monthly

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Liga, 2013-14 2013-14 1

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...