| Competition: | La Liga |
| Season: | 2011–12 |
| Dates: | 27 August 2011 – 13 May 2012 |
| Winners: | Real Madrid 32nd title |
| Relegated: | Villarreal Sporting Gijón Racing Santander |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Real Madrid Barcelona Valencia Málaga |
| Continentalcup2: | Europa League |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Athletic Bilbao Atlético Madrid Levante |
| League Topscorer: | Lionel Messi (50 goals) |
| Best Goalkeeper: | Víctor Valdés (0.8 goals/match) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Barcelona 8–0 Osasuna (17 September 2011)[1] |
| Biggest Away Win: | Rayo Vallecano 0–7 Barcelona (29 April 2012)[2] |
| Highest Scoring: | Barcelona 8–0 Osasuna (17 September 2011) Real Madrid 6–2 Rayo Vallecano (24 September 2011)[3] Real Madrid 7–1 Osasuna (6 November 2011)[4] Sevilla 2–6 Real Madrid (17 December 2011)[5] Levante 3–5 Rayo Vallecano (19 February 2012)[6] Barcelona 5–3 Granada (20 March 2012)[7] |
| Matches: | 380 |
| Total Goals: | 1050 |
| Longest Wins: | 11 matches[8] Barcelona Real Madrid |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 23 matches Real Madrid |
| Longest Winless: | 20 matches Racing Santander |
| Longest Losses: | 6 matches Rayo Vallecano Real Betis Zaragoza |
| Highest Attendance: | 99,252 Barcelona 1–2 Real Madrid (21 April 2012) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 6,000 Getafe 1–0 Real Sociedad (17 March 2012) |
| Attendance: | 11,504,567 |
| Average Attendance: | 28,265 |
| Prevseason: | 2010–11 |
| Nextseason: | 2012–13 |
The 2011–12 La Liga season (known as the Liga BBVA for sponsorship reasons) was the 81st season of the top level Spanish association football competition. The campaign began on 27 August 2011, and ended on 13 May 2012. Real Madrid won a record 32nd title following victory over Athletic Bilbao on 2 May 2012.
Real Madrid broke a number of league records, including most points in a single season (100), most goals scored (121), best goal difference (+89), most away wins (16), and most overall wins (32). This season also saw Lionel Messi score a record 50 league goals in 37 games. Behind Messi was Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored 46 goals; the pair's combined tally of 96 goals was the most ever by two players playing in the same major European league in the same season.
Deportivo de La Coruña, Hércules CF from Alicante and UD Almería were relegated to the 2011–12 Segunda División after finishing in the bottom three spots of the table at the end of the 2010–11 season. Deportivo were relegated to the Segunda División after 20 seasons of continuous membership in the top football league of Spain, while Almería ended a four-year tenure in La Liga and Hércules made their immediate return to the second level.
The three relegated teams were replaced by three 2010–11 Segunda División sides. Champions Betis, who terminated their second-level status after two years, runners-up Rayo Vallecano, who returned to the top flight after eight seasons at lower levels, earned direct promotion.
The third promoted team was decided in the promotion play-offs where Granada CF returned to the league for the first time in 35 years, having spent 26 of them in Segunda División B and Tercera División.
| Team | Club home city | Stadium | Stadium capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athletic Bilbao | Bilbao | San Mamés | 39,750 | |
| Atlético Madrid | Madrid | Vicente Calderón | 54,851 | |
| Barcelona | Barcelona | Camp Nou | 99,354 | |
| Betis | Seville | Benito Villamarín | 52,745 | |
| Espanyol | Barcelona | Cornellà-El Prat | 40,500 | |
| Getafe | Getafe | Coliseum Alfonso Pérez | 17,700 | |
| Granada | Granada | Nuevo Los Cármenes | 22,524 | |
| Levante | Valencia | Ciutat de València | 25,534 | |
| Málaga | Málaga | La Rosaleda | 28,963 | |
| Mallorca | Palma | Iberostar Stadium | 23,142 | |
| Osasuna | Pamplona | El Sadar | 19,553 | |
| Racing Santander | Santander | El Sardinero | 22,271 | |
| Rayo Vallecano | Madrid | Campo de Vallecas | 15,489 | |
| Real Madrid | Madrid | Santiago Bernabéu | 85,454 | |
| Real Sociedad | San Sebastián | Anoeta | 32,076 | |
| Sevilla | Seville | 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 |
As in the previous years, Nike provided the official ball for all matches, with a new T90 Seitiro model which was used throughout the season.[9]
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlético Madrid |  Quique Sánchez Flores | End of contract | 24 May 2011[17] | Gregorio Manzano | 8 June 2011[18] | 7th (2010–11) |
| Real Sociedad | Martín Lasarte | Sacked | 24 May 2011[19] |  Philippe Montanier | 4 June 2011[20] | 15th (2010–11) |
| Sevilla | Gregorio Manzano | End of contract | 25 May 2011[21] | Marcelino | 3 June 2011[22] | 5th (2010–11) |
| Getafe | Míchel | End of contract | 30 May 2011[23] | Luis García | 4 June 2011[24] | 16th (2010–11) |
| Racing Santander | Marcelino | Mutual consent | 3 June 2011[25] |  Héctor Cúper | 29 June 2011[26] | 12th (2010–11) |
| Levante | Luis García | Mutual consent | 3 June 2011[27] | Juan Ignacio Martínez | 9 June 2011[28] | 14th (2010–11) |
| Athletic Bilbao | Joaquín Caparrós | End of contract | 7 July 2011[29] | Marcelo Bielsa | 7 July 2011[30] | 6th (2010–11) |
| Mallorca | Michael Laudrup | Resigned | 27 September 2011[31] | Miguel Ángel Nadal (as caretaker) | 28 September 2011[32] | 11th |
| Mallorca | Miguel Ángel Nadal | End of tenure as caretaker | 3 October 2011[33] | Joaquín Caparrós | 3 October 2011[34] | 11th |
| Racing Santander | Héctor Cúper | Mutual consent | 29 November 2011[35] | Juanjo González | 30 November 2011[36] | 20th |
| Villarreal | Juan Carlos Garrido | Sacked | 22 December 2011[37] | José Molina | 22 December 2011[38] | 17th |
| Atlético Madrid | Gregorio Manzano | Sacked | 22 December 2011[39] | Diego Simeone | 23 December 2011[40] | 10th |
| Zaragoza |  Javier Aguirre | Sacked | 30 December 2011[41] | Manolo Jiménez | 31 December 2011[42] | 20th |
| Granada | Fabri | Sacked | 22 January 2012[43] | Abel Resino | 23 January 2012[44] | 18th |
| Sporting de Gijón | Manolo Preciado | Sacked | 31 January 2012[45] | Iñaki Tejada (as caretaker) | 31 January 2012[46] [47] | 19th |
| Sevilla | Marcelino | Sacked | 6 February 2012[48] | Míchel | 7 February 2012[49] | 11th |
| Sporting de Gijón | Iñaki Tejada | End of tenure as caretaker | 13 February 2012[50] | Javier Clemente | 13 February 2012 | 19th |
| Racing Santander | Juanjo González | Sacked | 7 March 2012[51] | Álvaro Cervera | 9 March 2012[52] | 18th |
| Villarreal | José Molina | Sacked | 18 March 2012[53] | Miguel Ángel Lotina | 19 March 2012[54] | 17th |
La Liga's governing body, the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, honoured the competition's best players and coach with the LaLiga Awards.[55]
| Recipient | |
|---|---|
| Best Player | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) |
| Best Coach | Pep Guardiola (Barcelona) |
| Best Goalkeeper | Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) |
| Best Defender | Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) |
| Best Midfielder(s) | Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid) Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona) |
| Best Forward | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) |
The Pichichi Trophy is awarded by the newspaper Marca to the player who scores the most goals in a season.
Liga BBVA| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mesut Özil | Real Madrid | 17 |
| 2 | Ángel Di María | Real Madrid | 16 |
| Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 16 | |
| 4 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 12 |
| Jesús Navas | Sevilla | 12 | |
| 6 |  Dani Alves | Barcelona | 11 |
| 7 | Xabi Alonso | Real Madrid | 9 |
| Andrés Iniesta | Barcelona | 9 | |
| Chory Castro | Mallorca | 9 | |
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 | Barcelona | 28 | 35 | 0.80 | ||
| 2 | Iker Casillas | Real Madrid | 31 | 37 | 0.84 | |
| 3 |  Thibaut Courtois | Atlético Madrid | 41 | 36 | 1.14 | |
| 4 |  Dudu Aouate | Mallorca | 46 | 36 | 1.28 | |
| 5 | Miguel Ángel Moyà | Getafe | 48 | 36 | 1.33 |
This award is given annually since 1999 to the team with the best fair play during the season. This ranking takes into account aspects[56] such as cards, suspension of matches, audience behaviour and other penalties. This section not only aims to determine the best fair play, 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 | 79 | 2 | 1 | – | 19 | – | – | 91 | |
| Málaga | 38 | 70 | 2 | 4 | – | – | 1 Mild29 | – | 91 | ||
| 2 | Villarreal | 38 | 86 | 4 | 2 | – | 38,13,21 | – | – | 115 | |
| 3 | Real Sociedad | 38 | 73 | 6 | 3 | – | 224,29 | 3 Milds7,9,27 | – | 119 | |
| 4 | Athletic Bilbao | 38 | 101 | 6 | 1 | – | 16 | 1 Mild20 | – | 126 | |
| 5 | Real Madrid | 38 | 91 | 3 | 2 | – | 415,25,29,29 | 1 Mild28 | – | 128 | |
| 6 | Levante | 38 | 120 | 5 | 0 | – | – | 1 Mild35 | – | 135 | |
| 7 | Racing Santander | 38 | 117 | 3 | 3 | – | 12 | – | – | 137 | |
| 8 | Osasuna | 38 | 98 | 4 | 2 | – | 420,27,31,34 | 1 Serious27 | – | 138 | |
| 9 | Sporting de Gijón | 38 | 117 | 5 | 0 | – | 120 | 2 Milds15,20 | – | 142 | |
| 10 | Rayo Vallecano | 38 | 125 | 1 | 2 | – | 111 | 1 Mild5 | – | 143 | |
| 11 | Mallorca | 38 | 118 | 2 | 4 | – | 119 | 1 Mild30 | – | 144 | |
| 12 | Atlético Madrid | 38 | 131 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 1 Mild33 | – | 146 | |
| 13 | Real Betis | 38 | 104 | 3 | 4 | – | 135 | 5 Milds1,5,14,18,36 | – | 152 | |
| Valencia | 38 | 127 | 1 | 6 | – | 128 | – | – | 152 | ||
| 14 | Getafe | 38 | 120 | 4 | 4 | – | 33,15,23 | – | – | 155 | |
| 15 | Sevilla | 38 | 112 | 6 | 3 | – | – | 5 Milds8,13,19,20,35 | – | 158 | |
| 16 | Espanyol | 38 | 130 | 4 | 2 | – | 26, 17 | 1 Mild18 | – | 159 | |
| 17 | Zaragoza | 38 | 126 | 5 | 3 | – | 226,32 | 1 Mild20 | – | 160 | |
| 18 | Granada | 38 | 107 | 4 | 5 | 1837 | 237 | 1 Very Serious13 | – | 165 |
Source: 2011–12 Fair Play Rankings Season[57]
Sources of cards and penalties: Referee's reports, Competition Committee's Sanctions, Appeal Committee Resolutions and RFEF's Directory about Fair Play Rankings
Comité Técnico de Árbitros de Fútbol de Las Palmas[58]
Imanol Agirretxe for Real Sociedad against Sporting de Gijón (27 August 2011)[59] Rovérsio for Osasuna against Racing Santander (13 May 2012)[60]
