| Competition: | La Liga |
| Winners: | Barcelona 25th title |
| Relegated: | Deportivo La Coruña Las Palmas Málaga |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Barcelona Atlético Madrid Real Madrid Valencia |
| Continentalcup2: | Europa League |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Villarreal Real Betis Sevilla |
| Matches: | 380 |
| Total Goals: | 1024 |
| League Topscorer: | Lionel Messi (34 goals) |
| Best Goalkeeper: | Jan Oblak (0.59 goals/match) |
| Longest Wins: | 8 matches Valencia |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 36 matches Barcelona |
| Longest Winless: | 16 matches Las Palmas |
| Longest Losses: | 8 matches Las Palmas |
| Highest Attendance: | 97,939 (6 May 2018)[1] |
| Lowest Attendance: | 0 (1 October 2017)[2] |
| Attendance: | 10,221,182 |
| Average Attendance: | 26,968 |
| Prevseason: | 2016–17 |
| Nextseason: | 2018–19 |
| Season: | 2017–18 |
| Dates: | 18 August 2017 – 20 May 2018 |
The 2017–18 La Liga season, also known as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons,[3] was the 87th since its establishment. The season began on 18 August 2017 and concluded on 20 May 2018.[4] The fixtures were released on 21 July 2017.[5]
Real Madrid were the defending champions. Barcelona, under new manager Ernesto Valverde, won the league title on 29 April 2018 with four matches to spare.[6] It was the second part of a double-winning season for Barcelona, who also won the 2018 Copa del Rey Final.[7]
Levante, Girona, and Getafe 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, Las Palmas, and Deportivo La Coruña were all relegated to the Segunda División.
Prior to the season, several teams hired new managers, among them the previous season's runners-up Barcelona, who enlisted the services of Ernesto Valverde from Athletic Bilbao after the exit of Luis Enrique.[8] Meanwhile, Valencia, who had struggled in the previous campaign hired Marcelino.[9]
In the transfer window, Barcelona were involved in the new world record transfer, selling Brazilian forward Neymar to French club Paris Saint-Germain for €222 million.[10] They replaced him with young Frenchman Ousmane Dembélé, who signed for an initial €105 million fee that could rise to €150 million.[11] Defending champions Real Madrid sold striker Álvaro Morata to Chelsea for €80 million and lost veteran defender Pepe to Turkey's Beşiktaş on a free transfer,[12] [13] while its largest fee paid during the window was €24 million for young defender Théo Hernandez from city rivals Atlético Madrid.[14]
Barcelona first topped the table on 16 September after winning 5–0 in its third match of the season against neighbours Espanyol,[15] eventually making a run of seven wins from the start of the season that ended with a 1–1 draw at Atlético Madrid.[16] 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 and on-loan Portuguese winger Gonçalo Guedes.[17] 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 relative to recent seasons.[18] [19]
In January 2018, Barcelona added to its attack by spending €160 million on Brazilian Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool, while the end of a transfer ban allowed Atlético to register Diego Costa and Vitolo for action. Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane made no signings.[20] Málaga 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.[21] Three days later, Las Palmas' relegation was also confirmed after the Canarian team lost 0–4 at home to Alavés to end its three-year top flight status.[22]
On 29 April, Barcelona sealed its 25th league title with a 4–2 win at Deportivo La Coruña, with Lionel Messi scoring a hat-trick. Barcelona still had four matches to play, and it was the second part of its double, having earlier won the 2018 Copa del Rey Final. The result also made Deportivo the final of the three relegated teams, sending them back to Segunda División for the first time in four years.[23]
A day later, Real Betis, under new manager Quique Setién, booked its entry to the UEFA Europa League following a 2–1 win over Málaga.[24] 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.[25] In its second-last match of the season, Sevilla drew 2–2 with city rivals Betis to confirm seventh place and qualification for the UEFA Europa League at the expense of Getafe.[26] 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.[27]
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. 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.[28] Girona were promoted as the runners-up after drawing 0–0 against Zaragoza on 4 June 2017, this was its first promotion to the top division.[29] It became the 62nd team to participate in the Spanish top level league. Getafe was the last to be promoted after defeating Huesca and Tenerife in the play-offs, one year after its relegation.[30]
The three promoted clubs replaced Sporting Gijón, Osasuna and Granada, which were relegated at the end of the previous season.
Atlético Madrid played for the first season at their new stadium, Wanda Metropolitano, replacing the Vicente Calderón Stadium, where they played since its opening in 1966.[31]
Deportivo La Coruña signed a sponsorship contract with Abanca for renaming their stadium as Abanca-Riazor.[32]
Real Betis 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, Girona expanded Estadi Montilivi temporarily for hosting 13,450 spectators.[33]
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [34] | ||||
| [35] | ||||
| [36] | ||||
| [37] | ||||
| [38] | ||||
| [39] | ||||
| [40] | ||||
| [41] | ||||
| [42] | ||||
| [43] | ||||
| [44] | ||||
| [45] | ||||
| [46] | ||||
| [47] | ||||
| Madrid | [48] | |||
| [49] | ||||
| Seville | [50] | |||
| Valencia | [51] | |||
| [52] |
| Team | Manager[53] | Captain[54] | Kit manufacturer[55] | Shirt sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (caretaker) | |||||
| , Granitos Buenavista | |||||
 | David García | Acerbis | Gran Canaria, Grupo DISA, IOC, Kalise Menorquina, beCordial Sports, Binter Canarias, Volkswagen Domingo Alonso | ||
| Greenearth, Estadio Benito Villamarín, Wiko, Reale Seguros, BeSoccer | |||||
| (caretaker) | |||||
| , Jawwy |
1. On the back of shirt.
2. On the sleeves.
3. On the shorts.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athletic Bilbao | Ernesto Valverde | Resigned | 23 May 2017[56] | Pre-season | José Ángel Ziganda | 24 May 2017[57] |
| Barcelona | Luis Enrique | End of contract | 29 May 2017 | Ernesto Valverde | 29 May 2017[58] | |
| Las Palmas | Quique Setién | 30 June 2017 | Manolo Márquez | 3 July 2017[59] | ||
| Valencia | Voro | End of interim spell | 11 May 2017 | 11 May 2017[60] | ||
| Real Betis | Alexis Trujillo | 26 May 2017 | Quique Setién | 26 May 2017[61] | ||
| Celta Vigo |  Eduardo Berizzo | End of contract | 30 June 2017[62] | Juan Carlos Unzué | 28 May 2017[63] | |
| Sevilla | Jorge Sampaoli | Signed by Argentina | 20 May 2017[64] | Eduardo Berizzo | 1 June 2017[65] | |
| Alavés | Mauricio Pellegrino | Resigned | 29 May 2017[66] | Luis Zubeldía | 17 June 2017[67] | |
| Alavés | Luis Zubeldía | Sacked | 17 September 2017[68] | 20th |  Gianni De Biasi | 22 September 2017[69] |
| Villarreal | Fran Escribá | 25 September 2017[70] | 14th | Javier Calleja | 25 September 2017[71] | |
| Las Palmas | Manolo Márquez | Resigned | 26 September 2017[72] | 15th | Pako Ayestarán | 27 September 2017[73] |
| Deportivo La Coruña | Pepe Mel | Sacked | 24 October 2017[74] | 17th | Cristóbal Parralo | 24 October 2017 |
| Alavés | Gianni De Biasi | 27 November 2017[75] | 20th | Abelardo Fernández | 1 December 2017[76] | |
| Las Palmas | Pako Ayestarán | 30 November 2017[77] | 19th | | 21 December 2017[78] | |
| Sevilla | Eduardo Berizzo | 22 December 2017[79] | 5th | | 28 December 2017[80] | |
| Málaga | Míchel | 13 January 2018[81] | 19th | | 13 January 2018[82] | |
| Deportivo La Coruña | Cristóbal Parralo | 4 February 2018[83] | 18th |  | 5 February 2018[84] | |
| Levante | Juan Muñiz | 4 March 2018[85] | 17th | Paco López | 4 March 2018 | |
| Real Sociedad | Eusebio Sacristán | 18 March 2018[86] | 15th | Imanol Alguacil | 18 March 2018 | |
| Espanyol | Quique Sánchez Flores | 20 April 2018[87] | 16th | David Gallego (caretaker) | 20 April 2018[88] | |
| Sevilla | Vincenzo Montella | 28 April 2018[89] | 7th | Joaquín Caparrós (caretaker) | 28 April 2018 |
Gabriel for Leganés against Alavés (18 August 2017)[90] Philippe Coutinho for Barcelona against Real Sociedad (20 May 2018)[91]| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[92] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 34 |
| 2 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 26 |
| 3 | Luis Suárez | Barcelona | 25 |
| 4 | Iago Aspas | Celta Vigo | 22 |
| 5 | Cristhian Stuani | Girona | 21 |
| 6 |  Antoine Griezmann | Atlético Madrid | 19 |
| 7 | Maxi Gómez | Celta Vigo | 17 |
| 8 | Gareth Bale | Real Madrid | 16 |
| Gerard Moreno | Espanyol | ||
| Rodrigo | Valencia |
| Rank | Player | Club | Assists[93] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 12 |
| Pablo Fornals | Villarreal | ||
| Luis Suárez | Barcelona | ||
| 4 | Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 10 |
| 5 | Antoine Griezmann | Atlético Madrid | 9 |
| Gonçalo Guedes | Valencia | ||
| Pione Sisto | Celta Vigo | ||
| Daniel Wass | Celta Vigo | ||
| 9 | Jordi Alba | Barcelona | 8 |
| José Ángel | Eibar | ||
 Andrés Guardado | Real Betis | ||
| José Luis Morales | Levante |
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.[94]
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals against | Matches | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan Oblak | Atlético Madrid | 22 | 37 | 0.59 | |
| 2 | Marc-André ter Stegen | Barcelona | 28 | 37 | 0.76 | |
| 3 | Vicente Guaita | Getafe | 26 | 33 | 0.79 | |
| 4 | Neto | Valencia | 33 | 33 | 1.00 | |
| 5 | Pau López | Espanyol | 31 | 28 | 1.11 |
See main article: List of La Liga hat-tricks.
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| data-sort-value="Messi, Lionel" | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Espanyol | 5–0 (H) | 9 September 2017 | 3 | |
| data-sort-value="Zaza, Simone" | Simone Zaza | Valencia | Málaga | 5–0 (H) | 19 September 2017 | 5 | |
| data-sort-value="Messi, Lionel" | Lionel Messi4 | Barcelona | Eibar | 6–1 (H) | 19 September 2017 | 5 | |
| data-sort-value="Bakambu, Cédric" |  Cédric Bakambu | Villarreal | Eibar | 3–0 (H) | 1 October 2017 | 7 | |
| data-sort-value="Aspas, Iago" | Iago Aspas | Celta Vigo | Las Palmas | 5–2 (A) | 16 October 2017 | 8 | |
| data-sort-value="Ibai" | Ibai Gómez | Alavés | Girona | 3–2 (A) | 4 December 2017 | 14 | |
| data-sort-value="Olunga, Michael" |  Michael Olunga | Girona | Las Palmas | 6–0 (H) | 13 January 2018 | 19 | |
| data-sort-value="Ronaldo, Cristiano" | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | Real Sociedad | 5–2 (H) | 10 February 2018 | 23 | |
| data-sort-value="Suárez, Luis" | Luis Suárez | Barcelona | Girona | 6–1 (H) | 24 February 2018 | 25 | |
| data-sort-value="Griezmann, Antoine" | Antoine Griezmann | Atlético Madrid | Sevilla | 5–2 (A) | 25 February 2018 | 25 | |
| data-sort-value="Griezmann, Antoine" | Antoine Griezmann4 | Atlético Madrid | Leganés | 4–0 (H) | 28 February 2018 | 26 | |
| data-sort-value="Ronaldo, Cristiano" | Cristiano Ronaldo4 | Real Madrid | Girona | 6–3 (H) | 18 March 2018 | 29 | |
| data-sort-value="Aspas, Iago" | Iago Aspas | Celta Vigo | Sevilla | 4–0 (H) | 7 April 2018 | 31 | |
| data-sort-value="Messi, Lionel" | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Leganés | 3–1 (H) | 7 April 2018 | 31 | |
| data-sort-value="Bacca, Carlos" |  Carlos Bacca | Villarreal | Celta Vigo | 4–1 (H) | 28 April 2018 | 35 | |
| data-sort-value="Messi, Lionel" | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Deportivo La Coruña | 4–2 (A) | 29 April 2018 | 35 | |
| data-sort-value="Boateng, Emmanuel" |  Emmanuel Boateng | Levante | Barcelona | 5–4 (H) | 13 May 2018 | 37 | |
| data-sort-value="Coutinho, Philippe" | Philippe Coutinho | Barcelona | Levante | 4–5 (A) | 13 May 2018 | 37 |
Jefferson Lerma (Levante) Jordi Amat (Real Betis)
Zdravko Kuzmanović (Málaga) Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) Sergi Roberto (Barcelona)A match played behind closed doors is not included.
| Month | Player of the Month | Reference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Club | |||
| September | Simone Zaza | Valencia | [99] | |
| October | Cédric Bakambu | Villarreal | [100] | |
| November | Iago Aspas | Celta Vigo | [101] | |
| December | Luis Suárez | Barcelona | [102] | |
| January | Aritz Aduriz | Athletic Bilbao | [103] | |
| February | Antoine Griezmann | Atlético Madrid | [104] | |
| March | Rodrigo | Valencia | [105] | |
| April | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | [106] | |