1987–88 La Liga

La Liga
Dates29 August 1987 – 22 May 1988
ChampionsReal Madrid
23rd title
RelegatedMallorca
Sabadell
Las Palmas
European CupReal Madrid
Cup Winners' CupBarcelona
UEFA CupReal Sociedad
Atlético Madrid
Athletic Bilbao
Matches played380
Goals scored909 (2.39 per match)
Top goalscorerHugo Sánchez
(29 goals)

The 1987–88 La Liga season was the 57th since its establishment. It began on 29 August 1987, and concluded on 22 May 1988.

Real Madrid finished the season as champions for the third season running, the runners-up this time being Real Sociedad, while Barcelona finished a disappointing sixth, though they did at least have Copa del Rey success as consolation for their lack of form in the league.

Teams and location

This season, the league was expanded to 20 teams and the relegation playoffs returned.

Team Home city Stadium
Athletic Bilbao Bilbao San Mamés
Atlético Madrid Madrid Vicente Calderón
Barcelona Barcelona Nou Camp
Cádiz Cádiz Ramón de Carranza
Celta Vigo Vigo Balaídos
Español Barcelona Sarriá
Las Palmas Las Palmas Insular
Logroñés Logroño Las Gaunas
Mallorca Palma Lluís Sitjar
Murcia Murcia La Condomina
Osasuna Pamplona El Sadar
Real Betis Seville Benito Villamarín
Real Madrid Madrid Santiago Bernabéu
Real Sociedad San Sebastián Atocha
Sabadell Sabadell Nova Creu Alta
Sevilla Seville Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán
Sporting Gijón Gijón El Molinón
Valencia Valencia Luis Casanova
Valladolid Valladolid José Zorrilla
Zaragoza Zaragoza La Romareda

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Real Madrid (C) 38 28 6 4 95 26 +69 62 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Real Sociedad 38 22 7 9 61 33 +28 51 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3 Atlético Madrid 38 19 10 9 60 38 +22 48
4 Athletic Bilbao 38 17 12 9 50 43 +7 46
5 Osasuna 38 15 10 13 40 34 +6 40
6 Barcelona 38 15 9 14 49 44 +5 39 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round[a]
7 Celta Vigo 38 14 11 13 43 40 +3 39
8 Valladolid 38 13 12 13 31 34 −3 38
9 Sporting Gijón 38 14 10 14 44 49 −5 38
10 Sevilla 38 13 11 14 41 46 −5 37
11 Zaragoza 38 11 14 13 54 56 −2 36
12 Cádiz 38 11 13 14 47 54 −7 35
13 Logroñés 38 12 9 17 28 45 −17 33
14 Valencia 38 10 13 15 44 53 −9 33
15 Español 38 11 11 16 44 55 −11 33
16 Real Betis 38 14 5 19 42 54 −12 33
17 Murcia (O) 38 9 13 16 31 42 −11 31 Qualification for the relegation playoffs
18 Mallorca (R) 38 9 12 17 35 50 −15 30
19 Sabadell (R) 38 9 11 18 27 48 −21 29 Relegation to the Segunda División
20 Las Palmas (R) 38 12 5 21 43 65 −22 29
Source: BDFútbol
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Goal difference; 4) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Barcelona qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as champions of the Copa del Rey.

Relegation playoff

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Oviedo 2–1 Mallorca 2–1 0–0
Murcia 4–1 Rayo Vallecano 3–0 1–1

First leg

29 May 1988 Oviedo 2–1 Mallorca Oviedo
Julià 78'
Carlos 90+'
Report (in Spanish) García Cortés 89' (pen.) Stadium: Carlos Tartiere
Attendance: 22,000
Referee: José María Enríquez Negreira Catalonia
29 May 1988 Murcia 3–0 Rayo Vallecano Murcia
Mejías 20'
Juanjo 59'
Manolo 86'
Report (in Spanish) Stadium: La Condomina
Attendance: 16,500
Referee: José Donato Pes Pérez Aragon

Second leg

4 June 1988 Mallorca 0–0
(1–2 agg.)
Oviedo Majorca
20:00 Report (in Spanish) Stadium: Lluís Sitjar
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Victoriano Sánchez Arminio Cantabria
5 June 1988 Rayo Vallecano 1–1
(1–4 agg.)
Murcia Madrid
Brown 55' (o.g.) Report (in Spanish) Cordero 90' Stadium: Vallecas
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Ildefonso Urizar Azpitarte Basque Country (autonomous community)

Results table

Home \ Away ATH ATM FCB BET CÁD CEL ESP LPA LOG MLL MUR OSA RMA RSO SAB SFC RSG VCF VLD ZAR
Athletic Bilbao 5–1 1–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 2–0 4–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 2–1 0–0 1–4 2–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–2
Atlético Madrid 1–0 0–2 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 1–0 3–0 7–0 1–0 3–1 1–3 0–2 1–0 0–1 1–2 2–1 3–0 2–0
Barcelona 1–2 1–2 0–1 3–1 2–0 3–2 1–1 2–1 2–2 4–1 0–1 2–0 2–0 0–0 1–2 1–0 0–1 2–4 4–2
Betis 0–0 1–1 1–2 3–2 3–1 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–3 6–0 0–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–0
Cádiz 0–0 3–3 0–2 4–1 1–2 1–1 2–0 0–0 0–0 5–2 1–1 0–4 2–2 3–2 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 0–2
Celta de Vigo 2–1 1–0 3–1 2–0 4–1 3–0 0–1 0–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–3 3–3 1–1 1–1
Espanyol 1–1 0–2 2–0 4–1 2–2 0–1 1–2 0–0 3–0 1–0 0–0 0–2 0–4 1–1 3–2 1–3 3–1 4–2 2–1
Las Palmas 3–1 0–3 1–2 1–2 1–0 2–0 0–2 0–2 1–2 1–0 0–2 0–2 3–2 0–2 1–2 5–2 2–1 4–0 2–1
Logroñés 1–1 0–2 0–1 2–0 1–2 0–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–3 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 2–1
Mallorca 0–1 1–1 1–0 3–1 1–4 0–0 3–0 0–0 4–0 3–3 2–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 2–3 0–2 0–0
Murcia 2–3 0–0 0–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 2–3 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–2 2–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–1
Osasuna 3–1 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 3–0 0–0 2–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 1–2 0–0 1–3 0–0 1–1 4–1 4–1
Real Madrid 5–0 0–4 2–1 6–0 4–0 2–0 2–0 5–0 2–0 3–1 3–1 3–0 1–0 3–1 3–1 7–0 4–0 2–1 2–1
Real Sociedad 0–1 0–0 4–1 3–2 2–1 3–2 1–0 3–2 4–0 1–0 0–1 0–0 2–2 1–0 0–1 3–0 3–0 1–0 2–1
Sabadell 3–1 1–1 0–1 2–1 0–1 0–0 2–2 2–1 0–1 2–0 0–0 0–0 0–2 0–2 2–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 1–2
Sevilla 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 2–1 0–3 2–2 4–0 2–0 0–0 1–2 0–2 1–1 1–0 2–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 1–1
Sporting Gijón 2–2 2–0 1–0 1–0 3–0 4–1 1–2 4–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–1 3–0 0–0 2–2 0–0 2–1
Valencia 1–2 3–4 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 3–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–3
Valladolid 1–0 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 3–0 0–2 0–1 0–0 0–0 2–0 2–1 1–1
Zaragoza 1–1 2–2 1–1 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–3 1–0 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–7 1–0 1–2 8–1 2–0 2–2 1–1
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: LFP (in Spanish)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1
Mexico Hugo Sánchez Real Madrid
29
2
Uruguay Rubén Sosa Zaragoza
18
3
Spain José Mari Bakero Real Sociedad
17
4
England Gary Lineker Barcelona
16
Spain Julio Salinas Atlético Madrid
6
Spain Joaquín Sporting Gijón
15
Spain Pedro Uralde Athletic Bilbao
8
Spain Míchel Real Madrid
14
9
Uruguay Pablo Bengoechea Sevilla
12
Spain Emilio Butragueño Real Madrid
Chile Jorge Contreras Las Palmas
Spain Joaquín Villa Sporting Gijón


 La Liga 1987–88 winners 
Real Madrid
23rd title