Season | 2015–16 |
---|---|
Dates | 21 August 2015 – 15 May 2016 |
Champions |
Barcelona 24th title |
Relegated |
Rayo Vallecano Getafe Levante |
Champions League | Barcelona Real Madrid Atlético Madrid Villarreal Sevilla (as Europa League winners) |
Europa League |
Athletic Bilbao Celta Vigo |
Matches played | 380 |
Goals scored | 1,043 (2.74 per match) |
Top goalscorer |
Luis Suárez (40 goals) |
Best goalkeeper |
Jan Oblak (0.47 goals per match) |
Biggest home win | Real Madrid 10–2 Rayo Vallecano (20 December 2015) |
Biggest away win |
Deportivo La Coruña 0–8 Barcelona (20 April 2016) |
Highest scoring | Real Madrid 10–2 Rayo Vallecano (20 December 2015) |
Longest winning run | 12 matches
[1] Barcelona Real Madrid |
Longest unbeaten run | 23 matches
[1] Barcelona |
Longest winless run | 13 matches
[1] Deportivo La Coruña Getafe |
Longest losing run | 7 matches
[1] Getafe |
Highest attendance | 98,902 Barcelona 1–2 Real Madrid (2 April 2016) [1] |
Lowest attendance | 4,215 Eibar 5–1 Granada (18 January 2016) [1] |
Total attendance | 10,554,764 [1] |
Average attendance | 27,775 [1] |
←
2014–15
2016–17 → |
The 2015–16 La Liga football season (known as the Liga BBVA for sponsorship reasons) 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 (their 24th Liga title) after beating Granada 3–0 on the final matchday. [2] Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid were engaged in an intense title race, with the three teams finishing with 91, 90 and 88 points respectively.
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.
A total of twenty teams contested the league, including seventeen 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, Real Betis and Sporting Gijón, and the winners of the play-offs, Las Palmas. [3]
Almería and Córdoba were relegated to 2015–16 Segunda División in the previous season, after spending two and one years in La Liga, respectively. Elche was administratively relegated despite finishing in 13th. [4] Following the competition rules, Eibar, who finished 18th, remained in the league. [5]
Real Betis was the first team from the Segunda División to achieve promotion, after a one-year absence from La Liga, on 24 May 2015 after winning 3–0 over Alcorcón. [6]
On 7 June 2015, Sporting Gijón secured promotion on the final matchday, after their 3–0 win against Betis allowed the club to leapfrog Girona, who drew their final match and could not retain second place and automatic promotion. Sporting returned to the top level after three years.
Las Palmas achieved promotion on 21 June 2015, after defeating Zaragoza in the promotion play-off final on away goals. Las Palmas won the second 2–0 leg at home after losing the first leg away 3–1, and returned to the first division after thirteen years away. They also became the first island team to play in La Liga since Mallorca's relegation from the top flight in the 2012–13 season. During those thirteen seasons, the club spent two of them in the third-tier Segunda División B.
Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
---|---|---|---|
Athletic Bilbao | Bilbao | San Mamés | 53,289 |
Atlético Madrid | Madrid | Vicente Calderón | 54,907 |
Barcelona | Barcelona | Camp Nou | 99,354 |
Celta Vigo | Vigo | Balaídos | 30,000 |
Deportivo La Coruña | A Coruña | Riazor | 34,600 |
Eibar | Eibar | Ipurua | 6,267 |
Espanyol | Barcelona | RCDE Stadium | 40,500 |
Getafe | Getafe | Coliseum Alfonso Pérez | 17,393 |
Granada | Granada | Nuevo Los Cármenes | 23,156 |
Las Palmas | Las Palmas | Gran Canaria | 32,150 |
Levante | Valencia | Ciutat de València | 26,354 |
Málaga | Málaga | La Rosaleda | 30,044 |
Rayo Vallecano | Madrid | Vallecas | 14,708 |
Real Betis | Seville | Benito Villamarín | 52,500 |
Real Madrid | Madrid | Santiago Bernabéu | 85,454 |
Real Sociedad | San Sebastián | Anoeta | 32,076 |
Sevilla | Seville | Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán | 42,500 |
Sporting Gijón | Gijón | El Molinón | 29,029 |
Valencia | Valencia | Mestalla | 55,000 |
Villarreal | Villarreal | El Madrigal | 24,890 |
Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure |
Date of vacancy | Position in table |
Replaced by | Date of appointment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Real Madrid |
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Sacked | 25 May 2015 [7] | Pre-season |
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3 June 2015 [8] |
Getafe |
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1 June 2015 [9] |
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26 June 2015 [10] | ||
Eibar |
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Mutual consent | 30 June 2015 [11] |
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30 June 2015 [12] | |
Las Palmas |
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Sacked | 19 October 2015 [13] | 19th |
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19 October 2015 [14] |
Levante |
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26 October 2015 [15] | 20th |
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27 October 2015 | |
Real Sociedad |
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9 November 2015 [16] | 16th |
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9 November 2015 | |
Valencia |
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Resigned | 29 November 2015 [17] | 9th |
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2 December 2015 [18] |
Espanyol |
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Sacked | 14 December 2015 | 12th |
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14 December 2015 [19] |
Real Madrid |
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4 January 2016 [20] | 3rd |
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4 January 2016 [20] | |
Real Betis |
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10 January 2016 [21] | 15th |
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3 February 2016 | |
Granada |
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22 February 2016 [22] | 20th |
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22 February 2016 [23] | |
Valencia |
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30 March 2016 [24] | 14th |
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30 March 2016 [24] | |
Getafe |
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11 April 2016 [25] | 19th |
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12 April 2016 | |
Real Betis |
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End of caretaker spell | 9 May 2016 [26] | 14th |
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9 May 2016 |
On 14 May 2016, Barcelona won their second consecutive and 24th overall La Liga title, following a 3–0 win over Granada at the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes on the final matchday. [27] Real Madrid finished one point behind Barcelona as runners-up, having gone on a twelve-match win streak to close out the season. [28] Atlético Madrid ended the season three points off the top in third place, having been eliminated from title contention after a loss to Levante on the penultimate matchday. [29]
Levante were the first team to be mathematically relegated to the Segunda División, following a 1–3 loss against Málaga on 2 May 2016. [30] On 15 May 2016, Sporting Gijón ensured they would remain in the top flight after defeating Villarreal 2–0 and taking advantage of Getafe's loss against Real Betis, which saw Getafe relegated from La Liga for the first time in club history. Rayo Vallecano also went down despite winning their final match of the season. [31]
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Barcelona (C) | 38 | 29 | 4 | 5 | 112 | 29 | +83 | 91 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
2 | Real Madrid | 38 | 28 | 6 | 4 | 110 | 34 | +76 | 90 | |
3 | Atlético Madrid | 38 | 28 | 4 | 6 | 63 | 18 | +45 | 88 | |
4 | Villarreal | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 44 | 35 | +9 | 64 | Qualification for the Champions League play-off round |
5 | Athletic Bilbao | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 58 | 45 | +13 | 62 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage [a] |
6 | Celta Vigo | 38 | 17 | 9 | 12 | 51 | 59 | −8 | 60 | |
7 | Sevilla | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 52 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage [b] |
8 | Málaga | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 38 | 35 | +3 | 48 [c] | |
9 | Real Sociedad | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 45 | 48 | −3 | 48 [c] | |
10 | Real Betis | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 34 | 52 | −18 | 45 | |
11 | Las Palmas | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 45 | 53 | −8 | 44 [d] | |
12 | Valencia | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 46 | 48 | −2 | 44 [d] | |
13 | Espanyol | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 40 | 74 | −34 | 43 [e] | |
14 | Eibar | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 49 | 61 | −12 | 43 [e] | |
15 | Deportivo La Coruña | 38 | 8 | 18 | 12 | 45 | 61 | −16 | 42 | |
16 | Granada | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 46 | 69 | −23 | 39 [f] | |
17 | Sporting Gijón | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 40 | 62 | −22 | 39 [f] | |
18 | Rayo Vallecano (R) | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 52 | 73 | −21 | 38 | Relegation to Segunda División |
19 | Getafe (R) | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 37 | 67 | −30 | 36 | |
20 | Levante (R) | 38 | 8 | 8 | 22 | 37 | 70 | −33 | 32 |
Rank | Player | Club | Goals [34] [35] |
---|---|---|---|
1 |
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Barcelona | 40 |
2 |
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Real Madrid | 35 |
3 |
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Barcelona | 26 |
4 |
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Real Madrid | 24 |
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Barcelona | ||
6 |
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Atlético Madrid | 22 |
7 |
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Athletic Bilbao | 20 |
8 |
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Real Madrid | 19 |
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Real Betis | ||
10 |
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Eibar | 18 |
Rank | Player | Club | Assists [36] |
---|---|---|---|
1 |
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Barcelona | 16 |
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Barcelona | ||
3 |
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Atlético Madrid | 14 |
4 |
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Barcelona | 12 |
5 |
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Real Madrid | 11 |
6 |
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Espanyol | 10 |
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Real Madrid | ||
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Real Madrid | ||
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Villarreal | ||
10 |
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Las Palmas | 9 |
The Zamora Trophy was awarded by newspaper Marca to the goalkeeper with least goals-to-games ratio. A goalkeeper had to play at least 28 games of 60 or more minutes to be eligible for the trophy. [37]
Rank | Name | Club | Goals Against |
Matches | Average [38] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
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Atlético Madrid | 18 | 38 | 0.47 |
2 |
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Barcelona | 22 | 32 | 0.69 |
3 |
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Villarreal | 26 | 32 | 0.81 |
4 |
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Real Madrid | 28 | 34 | 0.82 |
5 |
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Athletic Bilbao | 37 | 36 | 1.03 |
Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Real Madrid | Espanyol | 6–0 (A) | 12 September 2015 | Report |
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Real Sociedad | Granada | 3–0 (A) | 22 September 2015 | Report |
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Málaga | Real Sociedad | 3–1 (H) | 3 October 2015 | Report |
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Barcelona | Rayo Vallecano | 5–2 (H) | 17 October 2015 | Report |
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Sevilla | Getafe | 5–0 (H) | 24 October 2015 | Report |
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Barcelona | Eibar | 3–1 (H) | 25 October 2015 | Report |
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Athletic Bilbao | Rayo Vallecano | 3–0 (A) | 29 November 2015 | Report |
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Sporting Gijón | Las Palmas | 3–1 (H) | 6 December 2015 | Report |
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Real Madrid | Rayo Vallecano | 10–2 (H) | 20 December 2015 | Report |
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Real Madrid | Rayo Vallecano | 10–2 (H) | 20 December 2015 | Report |
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Barcelona | Granada | 4–0 (H) | 9 January 2016 | Report |
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Real Madrid | Deportivo La Coruña | 5–0 (H) | 9 January 2016 | Report |
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Barcelona | Athletic Bilbao | 6–0 (H) | 17 January 2016 | Report |
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Sporting Gijón | Real Sociedad | 5–1 (H) | 22 January 2016 | Report |
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Real Madrid | Espanyol | 6–0 (H) | 31 January 2016 | Report Archived 24 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine |
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Barcelona | Celta Vigo | 6–1 (H) | 14 February 2016 | Report |
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Athletic Bilbao | Deportivo La Coruña | 4–1 (H) | 2 March 2016 | Report |
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Barcelona | Rayo Vallecano | 5–1 (A) | 3 March 2016 | Report |
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Real Madrid | Celta Vigo | 7–1 (H) | 5 March 2016 | Report |
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Barcelona | Deportivo La Coruña | 8–0 (A) | 20 April 2016 | Report |
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Valencia | Eibar | 4–0 (H) | 20 April 2016 | Report |
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Granada | Levante | 5–1 (H) | 21 April 2016 | Report |
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Barcelona | Sporting Gijón | 6–0 (H) | 23 April 2016 | Report |
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Barcelona | Granada | 3–0 (A) | 14 May 2016 | Report |
4 Player scored four goals
5 Player scored five goals
(H) – Home ; (A) – Away
Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Barcelona | 1,486,763 | 98,902 | 65,531 | 78,251 | +0.8% |
2 | Real Madrid | 1,286,433 | 80,148 | 61,564 | 67,707 | −7.8% |
3 | Atlético Madrid | 820,812 | 51,933 | 29,737 | 43,201 | −7.2% |
4 | Athletic Bilbao | 797,268 | 47,785 | 37,552 | 41,961 | +3.3% |
5 | Valencia | 709,329 | 47,217 | 27,876 | 37,333 | −14.8% |
6 | Real Betis | 686,700 | 46,061 | 24,879 | 36,142 | +18.0%1 |
7 | Sevilla | 646,007 | 40,395 | 21,915 | 34,000 | +9.3% |
8 | Sporting Gijón | 440,723 | 28,140 | 19,536 | 23,196 | +20.1%1 |
9 | Deportivo La Coruña | 437,148 | 29,666 | 16,185 | 23,008 | +8.1% |
10 | Las Palmas | 402,922 | 28,414 | 15,819 | 21,206 | +32.4%1 |
11 | Málaga | 401,292 | 28,290 | 13,909 | 21,121 | −5.1% |
12 | Real Sociedad | 386,468 | 27,484 | 12,755 | 20,340 | −8.0% |
13 | Espanyol | 348,353 | 27,395 | 12,461 | 18,334 | −1.9% |
14 | Celta Vigo | 342,272 | 24,519 | 13,584 | 18,014 | −5.9% |
15 | Villarreal | 318,573 | 23,450 | 12,843 | 16,767 | +5.0% |
16 | Granada | 301,361 | 20,552 | 12,711 | 15,861 | −3.8% |
17 | Levante | 259,258 | 22,424 | 9,225 | 13,645 | −10.6% |
18 | Rayo Vallecano | 218,308 | 13,775 | 9,301 | 11,490 | +8.1% |
19 | Getafe | 138,861 | 12,772 | 4,532 | 7,308 | −0.7% |
20 | Eibar | 98,868 | 5,941 | 4,215 | 5,204 | +8.9% |
League total | 10,527,719 | 98,902 | 4,215 | 27,705 | +3.6% |
Source: [
citation needed]
Notes:
1: Team played last season in Segunda División.
La Liga's governing body, the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, honoured the competition's best players and coach with the La Liga Awards. [41]
Recipient | |
---|---|
Best Player |
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Best Coach |
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Best Goalkeeper |
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Best Defender |
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Best Midfielder |
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Best Forward |
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Team of the Year [42] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Goalkeeper |
![]() | |||||
Defence |
![]() |
![]() |
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![]() | ||
Midfield |
![]() Andrés Iniesta (Barça) |
![]() |
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Attack |
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Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Reference | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manager | Club | Player | Club | ||
September |
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Villarreal |
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Celta Vigo | [43] [44] |
October |
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Athletic Bilbao |
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Eibar | [45] [46] |
November |
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Atlético Madrid |
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Barcelona | [47] [48] |
December |
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Málaga |
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Deportivo La Coruña | [49] [50] |
January |
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Sevilla |
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Barcelona | [51] [52] |
February |
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Real Sociedad |
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Rayo Vallecano | [53] [54] |
March |
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Las Palmas |
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Athletic Bilbao | [55] [56] |
April |
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Real Madrid |
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Atlético Madrid | [57] [58] |
May |
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Barcelona |
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Barcelona | [59] [60] |
Telefónica 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. [61] KBSN Sports have the exclusive television broadcasting rights in South Korea except internet broadcasting. [62]