| Competition: | La Liga |
| Season: | 2008–09 |
| Dates: | 30 August 2008 – 31 May 2009 |
| Winners: | Barcelona 19th title |
| Relegated: | Real Betis Numancia Recreativo Huelva |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Barcelona Real Madrid Sevilla Atlético Madrid |
| Continentalcup2: | Europa League |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Villarreal Valencia Athletic Bilbao (as Copa del Rey runners-up) |
| League Topscorer: | Diego Forlán (32 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Real Madrid 7–1 Sporting Gijón (24 September 2008)[1] Barcelona 6–0 Valladolid (8 November 2008)[2] Barcelona 6–0 Málaga (22 March 2009)[3] |
| Biggest Away Win: | Sporting Gijón 1–6 Barcelona (21 September 2008)[4] |
| Highest Scoring: | Real Madrid 7–1 Sporting Gijón (24 September 2008) Real Madrid 2–6 Barcelona (2 May 2009)[5] Deportivo La Coruña 5–3 Racing Santander (8 March 2009)[6] Villarreal 4–4 Atlético Madrid (26 October 2008)[7] |
| Matches: | 380 |
| Total Goals: | 1101 |
| Prevseason: | 2007–08 |
| Nextseason: | 2009–10 |
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 concluded 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. A new match ball – the Nike T90 Omni – served as the official ball for all matches.
On 16 May 2009, following Villarreal's 3–2 victory over Real Madrid, Barcelona were declared champions, winning their 19th La Liga title, with three matches to play. Barcelona's Lionel Messi received the inaugural La Liga Award for Best Player from the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional.
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.
| Team | Venue | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Almería | Estadio del Mediterráneo | 22,000 | |
| Athletic Bilbao | San Mamés | 39,750 | |
| Atlético Madrid | Vicente Calderón | 54,851 | |
| Barcelona | Camp Nou | 98,772 | |
| Betis | Manuel Ruiz de Lopera | 52,132 | |
| Deportivo | Riazor | 34,600 | |
| Espanyol | Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys | 55,926 | |
| Getafe | Coliseum Alfonso Pérez | 16,300 | |
| Málaga | La Rosaleda | 35,530 | |
| Mallorca | ONO Estadi | 23,142 | |
| Numancia | Los Pajaritos | 9,700 | |
| Osasuna | Estadio Reyno de Navarra | 19,553 | |
| Racing Santander | El Sardinero | 22,400 | |
| Real Madrid | Santiago Bernabéu | 80,354 | |
| Recreativo | Nuevo Colombino | 21,600 | |
| Sevilla | Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán | 45,500 | |
| Sporting | El Molinón | 25,885 | |
| Valencia | Mestalla | 55,000 | |
| Valladolid | Estadio José Zorrilla | 26,512 | |
| Villarreal | El Madrigal | 23,000 |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recreativo |  Manolo Zambrano | Sacked | 7 October 2008[9] | Lucas Alcaraz | 7 October 2008[10] | 18th | |
| Osasuna | José Ángel Ziganda | Sacked | 13 October 2008[11] | José Antonio Camacho | 13 October 2008[12] | 16th | |
| Espanyol | Tintín Márquez | Sacked | 30 November 2008[13] | José Manuel Esnal | 1 December 2008[14] | 17th | |
| Real Madrid | Bernd Schuster | Sacked | 9 December 2008[15] | Juande Ramos | 9 December 2008[16] | 5th | |
| Almería | Gonzalo Arconada | Sacked | 21 December 2008[17] |  Hugo Sánchez | 22 December 2008[18] | 16th | |
| Espanyol | José Manuel Esnal | Sacked | 20 January 2009[19] |  Mauricio Pochettino | 20 January 2009[20] | 18th | |
| Atlético Madrid | Javier Aguirre | Sacked | 2 February 2009[21] | Abel Resino | 2 February 2009[22] | 7th | |
| Numancia | Sergije Krešić | Sacked | 17 February 2009[23] | Pacheta | 17 February 2009[24] | 19th | |
| Betis | Paco Chaparro | Sacked | 6 April 2009[25] | José María Nogués | 6 April 2009[26] | 16th | |
| Getafe | Víctor Muñoz | Sacked | 27 April 2009[27] | Míchel | 27 April 2009[28] | 17th |
For the first time in La Liga's history, its governing body, the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, honoured the competition's best players and coach with the La Liga Awards.[29]
| Award | Recipient | |
|---|---|---|
| Best Player | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) | |
| Best Coach | Pep Guardiola (Barcelona) | |
| Best Goalkeeper | Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) | |
| Best Defender |  Dani Alves (Barcelona) | |
| Best Midfielder(s) | Xavi (Barcelona) Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona) | |
| Best Forward | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) |
The Pichichi Trophy is awarded to the player who scores the most goals in a season.
Source: Yahoo! Sport
The Ricardo Zamora Trophy 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.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals against | Matches | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona | 31 | 35 | 0.89 | ||
| 2 | Andrés Palop | Sevilla | 35 | 35 | 1.00 | |
| 3 | Daniel Aranzubia | Deportivo La Coruña | 45 | 37 | 1.22 | |
| 4 | Toño | Racing Santander | 41 | 33 | 1.24 | |
| 5 |  Carlos Kameni | Espanyol | 47 | 37 | 1.27 |
| Rank | Club | width=50px | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona | 98 | |
| 2 | 102 | ||
| 3 | 110 | ||
| 4 | 113 | ||
| 5 | 114 | ||
| 6 | 131 | ||
| Valencia | |||
| 8 | 132 | ||
| 9 | 133 | ||
| 10 | 134 | ||
| 11 | 135 | ||
| 12 | 136 | ||
| Sevilla | |||
| 14 | 139 | ||
| 15 | 148 | ||
| Real Madrid | |||
| 17 | 149 | ||
| 18 | 164 | ||
| 19 | 165 | ||
| 20 | 183 |
Luis García for Espanyol against Valladolid (30 August 2008)[31] Ricardo Oliveira for Real Betis against Valladolid (31 May 2009)[32]See main article: List of La Liga hat-tricks.
Grégory Béranger for Espanyol against Valladolid (30 August 2008)
