2015–16 La Liga


The 2015–16 La Liga football season was the 85th since its establishment. Barcelona were the defending champions. It started on 21 August 2015 and concluded on 15 May 2016. Barcelona retained the title after beating Granada 3–0 on the final matchday.
Luis Suárez finished as top scorer, being the first player apart from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to do so since the 2008–09 season.

Teams

Promotion and relegation (pre-season)

A total of 20 teams contested the league, including 17 sides from the 2014–15 season and three promoted from the 2014–15 Segunda División. This included the two top teams from the Segunda División, and the winners of the play-offs.
Almería and Córdoba were relegated to 2015–16 Segunda División in the last season, after being two and one years, respectively in La Liga. Elche was administratively relegated despite finishing 13th. Following the competition rules, Eibar, who finished 18th, remained in the league.
Real Betis was the first team from Segunda to achieve promotion, after a one-year absence from La Liga, on 24 May 2015 after winning 3–0 over Alcorcón.
Sporting Gijón, promoted after finishing second, qualified on 7 June 2015, after winning 3–0 against Betis and taking advantage of the draw of Girona, who could not retain the promotion spot on the last match day. Sporting returned to the top level after three years.
Las Palmas achieved promotion on 21 June 2015 after defeating Real Zaragoza in the promotion playoff final on away goals, winning the second leg at home 2–0, after losing the first leg away 3–1. Las Palmas returned to the top level after 13 years. They also became the first island team to play in La Liga since Mallorca's relegation to Segunda Division in the 2012–13 season. During those 13 years, they played two seasons in Segunda División B.

Stadiums and locations

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
Athletic BilbaoBilbaoSan Mamés53,289
Atlético MadridMadridVicente Calderón54,907
BarcelonaBarcelonaCamp Nou99,354
Celta VigoVigoBalaídos30,000
Deportivo La CoruñaA CoruñaRiazor34,600
EibarEibarIpurua6,267
EspanyolBarcelonaRCDE Stadium40,500
GetafeGetafeColiseum Alfonso Pérez17,393
GranadaGranadaNuevo Los Cármenes23,156
Las PalmasLas PalmasGran Canaria32,150
LevanteValenciaCiutat de València26,354
MálagaMálagaLa Rosaleda30,044
Rayo VallecanoMadridVallecas14,708
Real BetisSevilleBenito Villamarín52,500
Real MadridMadridSantiago Bernabéu85,454
Real SociedadSan SebastiánAnoeta32,076
SevillaSevilleRamón Sánchez Pizjuán42,500
Sporting GijónGijónEl Molinón29,029
ValenciaValenciaMestalla55,000
VillarrealVillarrealEl Madrigal24,890

Personnel and sponsorship

Managerial changes

Overview

On 14 May 2016, Barcelona won their 24th title with a win over Granada CF by 3–0 at Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes. Real Madrid finished as runner-up after performing a 12-win streak until the end of the season.
The first team relegated to Segunda División was Levante UD, after losing 1–3 against Málaga CF on 2 May 2016.
On 15 May 2016, Sporting Gijón remained in La Liga after beating Villarreal by 2–0 and taking advantage of Getafe's loss against Real Betis in its separate match, Getafe being relegated from La Liga for the first time in its history. Rayo Vallecano was also relegated despite winning its last season game.

League table

Standings

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for matchday 13, but then postponed and played between days 16 and 17, it will be added to the standings for day 16.
Team \ Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738
Team \ Round
Barcelona54115243221111111222111111111111111111
Real Madrid105221321112333333333333333333333333322
Atlético Madrid33654554343222222111222222222222222233
Villarreal76433115555465554444444444444444444444
Athletic Bilbao17201013151713141288977977689866787766766556565
Celta Vigo21342432434544445555577866677555665656
Sevilla131718202016121381110111010788977755555555677777777
Málaga915151819181717161717201817161311111012121010111211111298888910888
Real Sociedad111116171112161615161614151313141415141315131110991091011109910121199
Real Betis6189111410810101311121111111112141515141413141313131011131413141213131410
Las Palmas191413161214191918191818192019191616161618161818181715151515121011139101011
Valencia15108710898977798891010111111121412111291112141514128891112
Espanyol4812869109111013101212121213121314131517171614141414121315151515141513
Eibar12568777766689101098666886788889911101111121214
Deportivo La Coruña8979766669985666679899991010121313101112131414151315
Granada207111518202020191819171718171718171717161819192019181817171717171717161616
Sporting Gijón1412171013151112171214151614141617181819191716161718191919191818181818181817
Rayo Vallecano121619129111515141512131416181819191918171915151516161716161616161616171918
Getafe1819201417131411131415161315151515131210101112131415171618181919201919191719
Levante1613141916191818202020192019202020202020202020201920202020202020192020202020

Source:

Leader
2016–17 UEFA Champions League group stage
2016–17 UEFA Champions League Play-off round
2016–17 UEFA Europa League group stage
2016–17 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round
Relegation to 2016–17 Segunda División

Results

Season statistics

Scoring

Salva Sevilla for Espanyol against Getafe
Álvaro Medrán for Getafe against Real Betis

Top goalscorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Luis SuárezBarcelona40
2 Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid35
3 Lionel MessiBarcelona26
4 Karim BenzemaReal Madrid24
4 NeymarBarcelona24
6 Antoine GriezmannAtlético Madrid22
7 Aritz AdurizAthletic Bilbao20
8 Gareth BaleReal Madrid19
8 Rubén CastroReal Betis19
10 Borja BastónEibar18

Top assists

RankPlayerClubAssists
1 Luis SuárezBarcelona18
2 Lionel MessiBarcelona16
3 NeymarBarcelona16
4 KokeAtlético Madrid15
5 Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid11
6 Gareth BaleReal Madrid10
6 Roberto SoldadoVillarreal10
6 Toni KroosReal Madrid10
6 Marco AsensioEspanyol10
10 Jonathan VieraLas Palmas9

Zamora Trophy

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.
RankNameClubGoals
Against		MatchesAverage
1 Jan OblakAtlético Madrid18380.47
2 Claudio BravoBarcelona22320.69
3 Alphonse AreolaVillarreal26320.81
4 Keylor NavasReal Madrid28340.82
5 Gorka IraizozAthletic Bilbao37361.03

Hat-tricks

PlayerForAgainstResultDateReference
Cristiano Ronaldo5Real MadridEspanyol6–0 12 September 2015
Imanol AgirretxeReal SociedadGranada3–0 22 September 2015
CharlesMálagaReal Sociedad3–1 3 October 2015
Neymar4BarcelonaRayo Vallecano5–2 17 October 2015
Kevin GameiroSevillaGetafe5–0 24 October 2015
Luis SuárezBarcelonaEibar3–1 25 October 2015
Aritz AdurizAthletic BilbaoRayo Vallecano3–0 29 November 2015
Antonio SanabriaSporting GijónLas Palmas3–1 6 December 2015
Gareth Bale4Real MadridRayo Vallecano10–2 20 December 2015
Karim BenzemaReal MadridRayo Vallecano10–2 20 December 2015
Lionel MessiBarcelonaGranada4–0 9 January 2016
Gareth BaleReal MadridDeportivo La Coruña5–0 9 January 2016
Luis SuárezBarcelonaAthletic Bilbao6–0 17 January 2016
Antonio SanabriaSporting GijónReal Sociedad5–1 22 January 2016
Cristiano RonaldoReal MadridEspanyol6–0 31 January 2016
Luis SuárezBarcelonaCelta Vigo6–1 14 February 2016
Aritz AdurizAthletic BilbaoDeportivo La Coruña4–1 2 March 2016
Lionel MessiBarcelonaRayo Vallecano5–1 3 March 2016
Cristiano Ronaldo4Real MadridCelta Vigo7–1 5 March 2016
Luis Suárez4BarcelonaDeportivo La Coruña8–0 20 April 2016
Paco AlcácerValenciaEibar4–0 20 April 2016
Youssef El-ArabiGranadaLevante5–1 21 April 2016
Luis Suárez4BarcelonaSporting Gijón6–0 23 April 2016
Luis SuárezBarcelonaGranada3–0 14 May 2016

4 Player scored four goals
5 Player scored five goals
– Home ; – Away

Discipline

LFP Awards

Seasonal

La Liga's governing body, the Liga de Fútbol Profesional, honoured the competition's best players and coach with the La Liga Awards.
Recipient
Best Player
Best Coach Diego Simeone
Best Goalkeeper Jan Oblak
Best Defender Diego Godín
Best Midfielder Luka Modrić
Best Forward Lionel Messi

Monthly

Number of teams by autonomous community

Broadcasting rights

purchased the exclusive television broadcasting rights to telecast the 2015–16 season in Spain. Sky Sports have exclusive rights in the United Kingdom and beIN Sports have exclusive rights to air the season in various countries, including the United States, Canada, MENA, France and the Middle East. KBSN Sports have the exclusive television broadcasting rights in South Korea except internet broadcasting.