2012–13 La Liga

La Liga
Season	2012–13
Dates	18 August 2012 – 1 June 2013
Champions	Barcelona; 22nd title
Relegated	Mallorca; Deportivo La Coruña; Zaragoza
Champions League	Barcelona; Real Madrid; Atlético Madrid; Real Sociedad
Europa League	Valencia; Real Betis; Sevilla
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1,091 (2.87 per match)
Top goalscorer	Lionel Messi; (46 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Thibaut Courtois; (0.78 goals/match)
Biggest home win	Atlético Madrid 6–0 Deportivo La Coruña; (9 December 2012)
Biggest away win	Rayo Vallecano 0–5 Barcelona; (27 October 2012); Mallorca 0–5 Real Madrid; (28 October 2012); Valencia 0–5 Real Madrid; (20 January 2013)
Highest scoring	Deportivo La Coruña 4–5 Barcelona (20 October 2012)
Longest winning run	12 matches; Barcelona
Longest unbeaten run	19 matches; Barcelona
Longest winless run	15 matches; Zaragoza
Longest losing run	6 matches; Deportivo La Coruña; Mallorca
Highest attendance	96,589; Barcelona 2–2 Real Madrid
Average attendance	29,430
	← 2011–12 2013–14 →

The 2012–13 La Liga season (known as the Liga BBVA for sponsorship reasons) was the 82nd since its establishment. The campaign began on 18 August 2012, and ended on 1 June 2013. Barcelona won the league for a 22nd time, after leading the league the entire season and amassing 100 points, equalling Real Madrid's points record from the previous season. As in previous years, Nike provided the official ball for all matches, with a new Nike Maxim Liga BBVA model to be used throughout the season for all matches.

Teams

A total of 20 teams contested the league, including 17 sides from the 2011–12 season and three promoted from the 2011–12 Segunda División. This included the two top teams from the Segunda División, and the victorious team of the play-offs.

Villarreal CF, Sporting de Gijón and Racing de Santander were relegated to 2012–13 Segunda División the previous season: Villarreal were relegated after twelve years in La Liga, Sporting de Gijón returned to Segunda División after a four-year tenure in La Liga, while Racing de Santander ended ten consecutive seasons in La Liga, the longest period in its history.

The three teams that were relegated were replaced by three 2011–12 Segunda División sides: Deportivo de La Coruña made an immediate return to the top level as Segunda División champion. The second-placing team Celta de Vigo was also promoted to La Liga after a five-year absence. The third promoted team was decided in the promotion play-offs where Real Valladolid returned to La Liga after two seasons in Segunda División.

Stadia and locations

Location of teams in 2012–13 La Liga

Team	Location of 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
Celta Vigo	Vigo	Balaídos	31,800
Deportivo La Coruña	A Coruña	Riazor	34,600
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
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
Valencia	Valencia	Mestalla	55,000
Valladolid	Valladolid	José Zorrilla	26,512
Zaragoza	Zaragoza	La Romareda	34,596

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Head Coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Athletic Bilbao	Marcelo Bielsa	Carlos Gurpegui	Umbro	Petronor
Atlético Madrid	Diego Simeone	Gabi	Nike	Azerbaijan, Huawei¹ and Kyocera²
Barcelona	Tito Vilanova	Carles Puyol	Nike	Qatar Foundation, UNICEF² ³ and TV3⁶
Betis	Pepe Mel	Juanma	Macron	Cirsa and Andalucía⁴
Celta de Vigo	Paco Herrera	Borja Oubiña	Li-Ning	Citroën⁴ and Estrella Galicia² ⁴
Deportivo La Coruña	Fernando Vázquez	Manuel Pablo	Lotto	Estrella Galicia
Espanyol	Javier Aguirre	Cristian Álvarez	Puma	Cancún
Getafe	Luis García Plaza	Jaime Gavilán	Joma	Confremar and IG Markets⁴
Granada	Lucas Alcaraz	Manuel Lucena	Luanvi	Caja Granada
Levante	Juan Ignacio Martínez	Sergio Ballesteros	Kelme	Comunitat Valenciana
Málaga	Manuel Pellegrini	Jesús Gámez	Nike	UNESCO⁵
Mallorca	Gregorio Manzano	José Nunes	Macron	Riviera Maya
Osasuna	José Luis Mendilibar	Patxi Puñal	Astore	Lacturale and Nevir²
Rayo Vallecano	Paco Jémez	Piti	Erreà	AE — Adquisiciones Empresariales and Nevir²
Real Madrid	José Mourinho	Iker Casillas	Adidas	BWIN
Real Sociedad	Philippe Montanier	Xabi Prieto	Nike	Canal+⁶ and Kutxa²
Sevilla	Unai Emery	Andrés Palop	Umbro	Interwetten
Valencia	Ernesto Valverde	David Albelda	Joma	JinKO Solar
Valladolid	Miroslav Đukić	Javier Baraja	Kappa	El Norte de Castilla⁴
Zaragoza	Manolo Jiménez	Javier Paredes	Mercury	Proniño and Canal+⁶

1. ^ Huawei is the sponsor for select matches.

2. ^ On the back of shirt.

3. ^ Barcelona makes 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 makes a donation to UNESCO in order to display the charity's logo on the club's kit.

6. ^ On the left sleeve.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Barcelona	Pep Guardiola	End of contract	30 June 2012	Tito Vilanova	13 June 2012	Pre-Season
Valencia	Unai Emery	End of contract	30 June 2012	Mauricio Pellegrino	4 June 2012	Pre-Season
Rayo Vallecano	José Ramón Sandoval	End of contract	30 June 2012	Paco Jémez	14 June 2012	Pre-Season
Granada	Abel Resino	End of contract	30 June 2012	Juan Antonio Anquela	18 June 2012	Pre-Season
Espanyol	Mauricio Pochettino	Mutual consent	26 November 2012	Javier Aguirre	28 November 2012	20th
Valencia	Mauricio Pellegrino	Sacked	1 December 2012	Voro (caretaker)	1 December 2012	12th
Valencia	Voro (caretaker)	End of tenure as caretaker	5 December 2012	Ernesto Valverde	3 December 2012	12th
Deportivo La Coruña	José Luis Oltra	Sacked	30 December 2012	Domingos Paciência	31 December 2012	20th
Sevilla	Míchel	Sacked	14 January 2013	Unai Emery	14 January 2013	12th
Granada	Juan Antonio Anquela	Sacked	30 January 2013	Lucas Alcaraz	30 January 2013	17th
Mallorca	Joaquín Caparrós	Sacked	4 February 2013	Gregorio Manzano	5 February 2013	19th
Deportivo La Coruña	Domingos Paciência	Mutual consent	11 February 2013	Fernando Vázquez	11 February 2013	20th
Celta de Vigo	Paco Herrera	Sacked	18 February 2013	Abel Resino	18 February 2013	18th

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Barcelona (C)	38	32	4	2	115	40	+75	100	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Real Madrid	38	26	7	5	103	42	+61	85
3	Atlético Madrid	38	23	7	8	65	31	+34	76
4	Real Sociedad	38	18	12	8	70	49	+21	66	Qualification for the Champions League play-off round
5	Valencia	38	19	8	11	67	54	+13	65	Qualification for the Europa League group stage
6	Málaga	38	16	9	13	53	50	+3	57
7	Real Betis	38	16	8	14	57	56	+1	56	Qualification for the Europa League play-off round
8	Rayo Vallecano	38	16	5	17	50	66	−16	53
9	Sevilla	38	14	8	16	58	54	+4	50	Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round
10	Getafe	38	13	8	17	43	57	−14	47
11	Levante	38	12	10	16	40	57	−17	46
12	Athletic Bilbao	38	12	9	17	44	65	−21	45
13	Espanyol	38	11	11	16	43	52	−9	44
14	Valladolid	38	11	10	17	49	58	−9	43
15	Granada	38	11	9	18	37	54	−17	42
16	Osasuna	38	10	9	19	33	50	−17	39
17	Celta Vigo	38	10	7	21	37	52	−15	37
18	Mallorca (R)	38	9	9	20	43	72	−29	36	Relegation to Segunda División
19	Deportivo La Coruña (R)	38	8	11	19	47	70	−23	35
20	Zaragoza (R)	38	9	7	22	37	62	−25	34

Source: La Liga
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th goal difference; 5th number of goals scored; 7th Fair-play points
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Results

Home \ Away	ATH	ATM	FCB	BET	CEL	RCD	ESP	GET	GCF	LEV	MCF	MLL	OSA	RVA	RMA	RSO	SFC	VCF	VLD	ZAR
Athletic Bilbao		3–0	2–2	3–5	1–0	1–1	0–4	1–2	1–0	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–2	0–3	1–3	2–1	1–0	2–0	0–2
Atlético Madrid	4–0		1–2	1–0	1–0	6–0	1–0	2–0	5–0	2–0	2–1	0–0	3–1	4–3	1–2	0–1	4–0	1–1	2–1	2–0
Barcelona	5–1	4–1		4–2	3–1	2–0	4–0	6–1	2–0	1–0	4–1	5–1	5–1	3–1	2–2	5–1	2–1	1–0	2–1	3–1
Betis	1–1	2–4	1–2		1–0	1–1	1–0	0–0	1–2	2–0	3–0	1–2	2–1	1–2	1–0	2–0	3–3	1–0	0–0	4–0
Celta Vigo	1–1	1–3	2–2	0–1		1–1	1–0	2–1	2–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–2	1–1	2–0	0–1	3–1	2–1
Deportivo La Coruña	1–1	0–0	4–5	2–3	3–1		2–0	1–1	0–3	0–2	1–0	1–0	2–0	0–0	1–2	0–1	0–2	2–3	0–0	3–2
Espanyol	3–3	0–1	0–2	1–0	1–0	2–0		0–2	0–1	3–2	0–0	3–2	0–3	3–2	1–1	2–2	2–2	3–3	0–0	1–2
Getafe	1–0	0–0	1–4	2–4	3–1	3–1	0–2		2–2	0–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–2	2–1	2–1	1–1	0–1	2–1	2–0
Granada	1–2	0–1	1–2	1–5	2–1	1–1	0–0	2–0		1–1	1–0	1–2	3–0	2–0	1–0	0–0	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–2
Levante	3–1	1–1	0–4	1–1	0–1	0–4	3–2	0–0	3–1		1–2	4–2	0–2	2–3	1–2	2–1	1–0	1–0	2–1	0–0
Málaga	1–0	0–0	1–3	4–0	1–1	3–1	0–2	2–1	4–0	3–1		1–1	1–0	1–2	3–2	1–2	0–0	4–0	2–1	1–1
Mallorca	0–1	1–1	2–4	1–0	1–0	2–3	2–1	1–3	1–2	1–1	2–3		1–1	1–1	2–5	1–0	2–1	2–0	6–2	1–1
Osasuna	0–1	0–2	1–2	0–0	1–0	2–1	0–2	1–0	1–2	4–0	0–0	1–1		1–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–1	0–1	1–0
Rayo Vallecano	2–2	2–1	0–5	3–0	3–2	2–1	2–0	3–1	1–0	3–0	1–3	2–0	2–2		0–2	0–2	0–0	0–4	1–2	0–2
Real Madrid	5–1	2–0	2–1	3–1	2–0	5–1	2–2	4–0	3–0	5–1	6–2	5–2	4–2	2–0		4–3	4–1	1–1	4–3	4–0
Real Sociedad	2–0	0–1	3–2	3–3	2–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	4–2	3–0	0–0	4–0	3–3		2–1	4–2	4–1	2–0
Sevilla	2–1	0–1	2–3	5–1	4–1	3–1	3–0	2–1	3–0	0–0	0–2	3–2	1–0	2–1	1–0	1–2		4–3	1–2	4–0
Valencia	3–2	2–0	1–1	3–0	2–1	3–3	2–1	4–2	1–0	2–2	5–1	2–0	4–0	0–1	0–5	2–5	2–0		2–1	2–0
Valladolid	2–2	0–3	1–3	0–1	0–2	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–0	2–0	1–1	3–1	1–3	6–1	2–3	2–2	1–1	1–1		2–0
Zaragoza	1–2	1–3	0–3	1–2	0–1	5–3	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–1	0–1	3–2	3–1	3–0	1–1	1–2	2–1	2–2	0–1

Source: LFP
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Awards

LaLiga Awards

La Liga's governing body, the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, honoured the competition's best players and coach with LaLiga Awards.

	Recipient
Best Player	Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Best Coach	Diego Simeone (Atlético Madrid)
Best Goalkeeper	Thibaut Courtois (Atlético Madrid)
Best Defender	Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Best Midfielder(s)	Asier Illarramendi (Real Sociedad) Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)
Best Forward	Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Top goalscorers

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

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	46
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	34
3	Radamel Falcao	Atlético Madrid	28
4	Álvaro Negredo	Sevilla	25
5	Roberto Soldado	Valencia	24
6	Rubén Castro	Real Betis	18
6	Piti	Rayo Vallecano	18
8	Gonzalo Higuaín	Real Madrid	16
9	Carlos Vela	Real Sociedad	14
	Hélder Postiga	Zaragoza	14
	Aritz Aduriz	Athletic Bilbao	14

Assists table

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Mesut Özil	Real Madrid	16
1	Andrés Iniesta	Barcelona	16
3	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	12
4	Karim Benzema	Real Madrid	11
4	Cesc Fàbregas	Barcelona	11
6	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	10
6	Ivan Rakitić	Sevilla	10
8	Ibai	Athletic Bilbao	9
	Carlos Vela	Real Sociedad	9
	Koke	Atlético Madrid	9
	Alexis Sánchez	Barcelona	9

Zamora Trophy

The Zamora Trophy is awarded by newspaper Marca to the goalkeeper with fewest goals-to-games ratio. Keepers 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	Thibaut Courtois	Atlético Madrid	29	37	0.78
2	Víctor Valdés	Barcelona	33	31	1.06
3	Willy Caballero	Málaga	42	34	1.24
3	Andrés Fernández	Osasuna	46	37	1.24
5	Claudio Bravo	Real Sociedad	40	31	1.29

Source: Marca

Fair Play award

This award is given annually since 1999 to the team with the best fair play during the season. This ranking takes into account aspects 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	56	2	0	4²⁶	2²	–	–	74
2	Valladolid	38	77	3	0	–	1⁵	–	–	88
3	Real Sociedad	38	93	2	0	–	1⁸	–	–	102
4	Real Madrid	38	90	4	1	4²	–	–	–	105
5	Atlético Madrid	38	98	4	0	–	–	–	–	106
6	Málaga	38	92	2	2	–	1⁹	–	–	107
7	Granada	38	104	4	1	–	–	–	–	115
8	Mallorca	38	91	5	3	–	2^{7, 35}	–	–	120
9	Deportivo La Coruña	38	93	6	2	–	2^{4, 30}	–	–	121
10	Celta de Vigo	38	94	3	0	4²⁸	2^{5, 21}	2 Mild^{3, 9}	–	124
11	Levante	38	108	5	2	–	2^{7, 27}	–	–	134
12	Athletic Bilbao	38	114	6	3	–	–	–	–	135
13	Sevilla	38	98	6	6	–	1⁶	1 Mild⁶	–	138
14	Betis	38	112	4	3	–	1⁷	2 Mild^{3, 17}	–	144
15	Getafe	38	109	3	5	4³¹	3^{6, 15, 19}	–	–	149
16	Osasuna	38	109	3	5	4²	3^{16, 21, 37}	1 Mild¹⁰	–	154
16	Valencia	38	124	4	4	–	2¹⁰	–	–	154
18	Rayo Vallecano	38	131	2	2	–	2^{9, 23}	1 Mild¹¹	–	156
19	Zaragoza	38	124	6	4	–	3^{8, 9, 25}	–	–	163
20	Espanyol	38	139	8	4	4¹²	3^{4, 20}	–	–	186

Source: 2012–13 Fair Play Rankings Season

Sources of cards and penalties: Referee's reports, Competition Committee's Sanctions, Appeal Committee Resolutions and RFEF section about Fair Play

Legend:

Icon	Term	Points of sanction	Description
	Yellow Card	1 point/yellow card
	Double Yellow Card/Ejection	2 points/double yellow card
	Direct Red Card	3 points/red card
	Games of Suspension (Player)	As many as banned games	When a player is banned for play more than 3 future games. This punishment overrides the possible red card which caused this sanction
	Games of Suspension (Club's Personnel)	5 points/banned game	When some person of the club (not player) is banned for x future games. This punishment overrides the possible red card which caused this sanction
	Audience Behaviour	Mild (5 points) Serious (6 points) Very Serious (7 points)	When the audience makes some altercations such as explosions, flares, throwing objects to the ground, racist chanting, etc.
	Closure of Stadium	10 points/match with closured stadium	When serious incidents happen which are punished by the closure of the stadium
It also accounts cards to non-players
The number in superscript is the corresponding round to the sanction
Important note: This table is not a count of cards and sanctions resulting from the matches, this table takes into account the removal or application of some cards and sanctions by the competent bodies (Competition Committee, Appeal Committee and Spanish Sports Disciplinary Committee)

Season statistics

Scoring

First goal of the season: Fabrice Olinga for Málaga against Celta de Vigo (18 August 2012)
Last goal of the season: Piti for Rayo Vallecano against Athletic Bilbao (1 June 2013)

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Radamel Falcao	Atlético Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	4–0	27 August 2012
Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	Deportivo La Coruña	5–1	30 September 2012
Lionel Messi	Barcelona	Deportivo La Coruña	5–4	20 October 2012
Radamel Falcao⁵	Atlético Madrid	Deportivo La Coruña	6–0	9 December 2012
Xabi Prieto	Real Sociedad	Real Madrid	3–4	6 January 2013
Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	Getafe	4–0	27 January 2013
Lionel Messi⁴	Barcelona	Osasuna	5–1	27 January 2013
Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	Sevilla	4–1	9 February 2013
Álvaro Negredo	Sevilla	Celta de Vigo	4–1	4 March 2013
Cesc Fàbregas	Barcelona	Mallorca	5–0	6 April 2013
Álvaro Negredo⁴	Sevilla	Valencia	4–3	1 June 2013

⁴ Player scored 4 goals
⁵ Player scored 5 goals

Clean sheets

Most clean sheets: 20
- Atlético Madrid
Fewest clean sheets: 5
- Mallorca

Discipline

Most yellow cards (club): 139
- Espanyol
Fewest yellow cards (club): 56
- Barcelona
Most yellow cards (player): 19
- Cristian Săpunaru (Zaragoza)
Most red cards (club): 12
- Sevilla
Fewest red cards (club): 2
- Barcelona
- Real Sociedad
Most red cards (player): 4
- Alejandro Arribas (Osasuna)

Overall

Most wins - Barcelona (32)
Fewest wins - Deportivo La Coruña (8)
Most draws - Real Sociedad (12)
Fewest draws - Barcelona (4)
Most losses - Zaragoza (22)
Fewest losses - Barcelona (2)
Most goals scored - Barcelona (115)
Fewest goals scored - Osasuna (33)
Most goals conceded - Mallorca (72)
Fewest goals conceded - Atlético Madrid (31)

References

External links