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La Liga
Season	1996–97
Dates	31 August 1996 – 23 June 1997
Champions	Real Madrid; 27th title
Relegated	Rayo Vallecano (relegation playoff); Extremadura; Sevilla; Hércules; Logroñes
Champions League	Real Madrid; Barcelona
Cup Winners' Cup	Real Betis (as Copa del Rey runners-up)
UEFA Cup	Deportivo La Coruña; Atlético Madrid; Athletic Bilbao; Valladolid
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,271 (2.75 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ronaldo (34 goals)
Biggest home win	Barcelona 8–0 Logroñés; (20 October 1996)
Biggest away win	Rayo Vallecano 0–4 Real Betis; (16 March 1997)
Highest scoring	Barcelona 8–0 Logroñés; (20 October 1996) Zaragoza 3–5 Barcelona; (29 August 1996)
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 La Liga season was the 66th since its establishment. It began on 31 August 1996, and concluded on 23 June 1997. Five clubs were relegated to the Segunda División at the end of the season, as the number of La Liga clubs was reduced to 20 starting from the following season. This was thus the last La Liga season played with 22 teams.

Promotion and relegation

Teams promoted from 1995–96 Segunda División

Teams relegated to 1996–97 Segunda División

Team information

Clubs and locations

1996–97 season was composed of the following clubs:

Location of teams in La Liga 1996–97

Tenerife

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Canary Islands

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Barcelona	Camp Nou	98,772
Real Madrid	Santiago Bernabéu	80,354
Atlético Madrid	Vicente Calderón	55,005
Valencia	Mestalla	55,000
Real Betis	Benito Villamarín	52,132
Sevilla	Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán	45,500
Espanyol	Sarrià	44,000
Athletic Bilbao	San Mamés	39,750
Deportivo de La Coruña	Riazor	34,600
Real Zaragoza	La Romareda	34,596
Celta de Vigo	Balaídos	32,500
Real Sociedad	Anoeta	32,200
Hércules	José Rico Pérez	29,500
Valladolid	José Zorrilla	27,846
Sporting de Gijón	El Molinón	25,885
Real Oviedo	Carlos Tartiere	23,500
Tenerife	Heliodoro Rodríguez López	22,824
Racing de Santander	El Sardinero	22,222
Logroñés	Las Gaunas	16,000
Rayo Vallecano	Vallecas	14,708
Compostela	San Lázaro	12,000
Extremadura	Francisco de la Hera	11,580

It was the last season with 22 teams in La Liga. To reduce the number of teams in the league, the last four teams, CF Extremadura, Sevilla FC, Hércules CF and CD Logroñés, were relegated and the fifth-to-last team, Rayo Vallecano, played a relegation playoff and was also relegated.

Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Athletic Bilbao	Luis Fernández	Genar Andrinúa	Kappa	None
Atlético Madrid	Radomir Antić	Roberto Solozábal	Puma	Bandai/Tamagotchi
Barcelona	Bobby Robson	Gheorghe Popescu	Kappa	None
Betis	Lorenzo Serra Ferrer	Alexis Trujillo	Kappa	Ocaroil
Celta Vigo	Fernando Castro Santos	Patxi Salinas	Umbro	Citroën
Compostela	Fernando Vázquez	Javier Bellido	Zico	Escuris
Deportivo	Carlos Alberto Silva	Francisco Javier González Pérez	Umbro	Feiraco
Espanyol	Paco Flores	Francisco Javier López Alfaro	Puma	Dani
Extremadura	Iosu Ortoundo	Juan Francisco Rodríguez Herrera	Kelme	Expo '98 Lisboa
Hércules	Quique Hernández	Francisco Gabriel Escudero Martínez	Rasán	Jijona
Logroñés	Carlos Aimar	Agustín Abadía	Rasán	La Rioja
Racing Santander	Marcos Alonso Peña	Jesús Merino Landaluce	Austral	Caja Cantabria
Rayo Vallecano	Francisco García Gómez	Jesús Diego Cota	Joma	Estepona
Oviedo	José Antonio Novo	Alberto Martínez Díaz	Joluvi	Cajastur
Real Madrid	Fabio Capello	Manolo Sanchís	Kelme	Teka
Real Sociedad	Javier Irureta	Lorenzo Juarros García	Astore	Krafft
Sevilla	Vicente Miera	Manuel Jiménez Jiménez	Umbro	None
Sporting de Gijón	Benito Floro	Juan Carlos Ablanedo	Joma	Cajastur
Tenerife	Jupp Heynckes	Felipe Miñambres	Puma	Canarias
Valencia	Jorge Valdano	Andoni Zubizarreta	Luanvi	Ford
Valladolid	Vicente Cantatore	Juan Carlos Rodríguez Moreno	Kelme	Caja España
Zaragoza	Víctor Espárrago	Alberto Belsué	Adidas	Pikolin

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Real Madrid (C)	42	27	11	4	85	36	+49	92	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Barcelona	42	28	6	8	102	48	+54	90	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3	Deportivo La Coruña	42	21	14	7	57	30	+27	77^[a]	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Real Betis	42	21	14	7	81	46	+35	77^[a]	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round^[b]
5	Atlético Madrid	42	20	11	11	76	64	+12	71	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
6	Athletic Bilbao	42	16	16	10	72	57	+15	64^[c]
7	Valladolid	42	18	10	14	57	46	+11	64^[c]
8	Real Sociedad	42	18	9	15	50	47	+3	63
9	Tenerife	42	15	11	16	69	57	+12	56^[d]
10	Valencia	42	15	11	16	63	59	+4	56^[d]
11	Compostela	42	13	14	15	52	65	−13	53
12	Espanyol	42	14	9	19	51	57	−6	51
13	Racing Santander	42	11	17	14	52	54	−2	50^[e]
14	Zaragoza	42	12	14	16	58	66	−8	50^[e]
15	Sporting Gijón	42	13	11	18	45	63	−18	50^[e]
16	Celta Vigo	42	12	13	17	51	54	−3	49
17	Oviedo	42	12	12	18	49	65	−16	48
18	Rayo Vallecano (R)	42	13	6	23	43	62	−19	45	Qualification for the relegation playoffs
19	Extremadura (R)	42	11	11	20	35	64	−29	44	Relegation to the Segunda División
20	Sevilla (R)	42	12	7	23	50	69	−19	43
21	Hércules (R)	42	12	5	25	40	77	−37	41
22	Logroñés (R)	42	9	6	27	33	85	−52	33

Source: LFP
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ ^a ^b BET 1–2 DEP; DEP 3–0 BET
^ Since Barcelona, winners of 1996–97 Copa del Rey, was qualified for the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League, losing cup finalists Real Betis earned a spot in the first round of the 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
^ ^a ^b VLD 0–0 ATH; ATH 0–0 VLD
^ ^a ^b VAL 2–1 TEN; TEN 2–1 VAL
^ ^a ^b ^c RAC: 9 pts; ZAR: 6 pts; SPG: 3 pts

Results

Home \ Away	ATH	ATM	BAR	BET	CEL	COM	DEP	ESP	EXT	HÉR	LOG	RAC	RVA	RMA	ROV	RSO	SEV	SPG	TEN	VAL	VLD	ZAR
Athletic Bilbao		1–1	2–1	0–3	2–2	2–2	1–0	2–2	0–0	5–0	6–0	2–2	3–2	1–0	3–2	1–3	0–0	4–0	2–0	2–0	0–0	2–2
Atlético Madrid	2–1		2–5	2–2	2–0	4–1	0–2	2–1	1–1	3–0	2–0	1–0	1–3	1–4	3–0	2–2	3–2	2–1	0–3	1–4	3–1	5–1
FC Barcelona	2–0	3–3		3–0	1–0	3–0	1–0	2–1	3–0	2–3	8–0	1–0	6–0	1–0	2–2	3–2	4–0	4–0	1–1	3–2	6–1	4–1
Betis	3–0	3–2	2–4		1–1	0–0	1–2	1–2	3–1	2–1	5–1	2–2	3–0	1–1	4–0	2–1	3–3	0–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	2–2
Celta de Vigo	0–2	1–1	1–3	0–2		1–2	1–1	2–2	0–1	3–0	4–0	1–1	2–0	4–0	3–1	1–1	4–2	2–1	3–1	1–1	0–2	0–0
SD Compostela	1–1	3–1	1–5	0–2	2–1		0–0	3–1	4–0	2–2	1–2	1–1	2–1	1–2	0–2	1–2	2–0	2–1	1–1	0–3	1–1	2–1
Deportivo de La Coruña	2–2	0–0	0–1	3–0	2–2	1–0		2–0	1–0	4–0	4–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	3–0	1–0	3–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	0–2	1–0
RCD Espanyol	0–2	0–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	0–2	0–1		5–1	2–1	5–1	0–0	0–0	0–2	2–0	3–0	1–0	2–3	1–0	3–2	1–0	3–0
CF Extremadura	1–2	2–4	1–3	0–3	2–0	1–1	1–0	3–0		0–0	3–0	1–2	1–0	0–0	0–2	1–0	0–1	1–2	2–0	1–0	1–1	2–1
Hércules CF	3–2	0–2	2–1	0–1	0–2	1–0	1–3	1–2	2–1		1–0	0–1	1–0	2–3	1–1	2–1	3–0	1–1	3–1	0–2	1–0	1–1
CD Logroñés	1–4	0–3	0–1	2–1	0–3	1–1	1–2	1–0	0–0	3–2		1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–0	2–0	0–2	0–1	2–1	0–1	1–2
Racing de Santander	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–3	1–2	2–1		1–2	2–2	1–0	1–2	1–4	2–0	1–2	3–2	2–0	1–2
Rayo Vallecano	1–1	1–2	1–2	0–4	3–0	0–1	1–2	0–1	3–0	2–1	1–0	0–0		1–0	2–2	1–0	2–0	0–1	1–2	3–1	1–2	1–1
Real Madrid	1–0	3–1	2–0	2–2	4–0	0–0	3–2	2–0	5–0	3–0	0–0	2–1	1–0		6–1	6–1	4–2	3–1	0–0	4–2	1–0	2–0
Real Oviedo	2–0	4–1	2–4	1–1	2–1	2–2	0–1	3–1	0–0	2–0	2–1	1–5	0–2	2–3		0–0	1–0	0–0	1–3	3–0	1–1	1–0
Real Sociedad	0–0	1–1	2–0	0–1	1–2	4–1	1–1	1–0	3–0	2–1	2–1	2–0	3–1	1–2	1–0		1–0	1–1	3–0	0–1	0–0	1–0
Sevilla FC	4–2	0–0	0–1	0–3	2–0	0–1	0–1	3–1	0–0	5–0	1–4	0–0	2–0	1–3	2–1	2–3		2–1	2–1	0–2	2–2	1–2
Sporting de Gijón	2–4	0–1	0–0	2–4	2–1	1–1	1–1	4–3	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–1	3–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–1		2–1	2–1	1–2	2–0
CD Tenerife	3–3	2–3	4–0	0–1	0–0	6–0	2–1	5–1	2–1	3–1	2–0	2–2	1–2	1–1	2–2	0–1	0–2	6–0		2–1	1–3	3–3
Valencia CF	5–2	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	0–0	3–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	2–1	0–1	4–2	2–1	2–1		2–4	1–1
Valladolid	0–0	0–3	3–1	1–3	0–1	3–1	1–1	2–1	4–0	1–0	2–1	3–0	4–0	1–1	0–1	3–0	0–1	1–0	0–2	4–1		1–1
Zaragoza	1–1	2–3	3–5	2–2	1–1	1–3	1–2	1–0	3–1	2–0	2–2	0–2	3–2	1–2	1–0	3–0	2–1	5–0	1–1	1–1	1–0

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation playoff

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
RCD Mallorca	(a) 2–2	Rayo Vallecano	1–0	1–2

First leg

25 June 1997	RCD Mallorca	1–0	Rayo Vallecano	Palma de Mallorca
22:00	Barbero 17'	Report (in Spanish)		Stadium: Lluís Sitjar Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Juan Manuel Brito Arceo

Second leg

29 June 1997	Rayo Vallecano	2–1 (2–2 agg.)	RCD Mallorca	Madrid
21:30	Klimowicz 38' (pen.) Cortijo 86'	Report (in Spanish)	Carlitos 58'	Stadium: Vallecas Attendance: 14,000 Referee: Celino Gracia Redondo

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Ronaldo	Barcelona	34
2	Alfonso	Real Betis	25
3	Davor Šuker	Real Madrid	24
4	Raúl	Real Madrid	21
4	Rivaldo	Deportivo La Coruña	21
6	Oli	Oviedo	19
7	Luis Enrique	Barcelona	17
	Ohen	Compostela
	José Ángel Ziganda	Athletic Bilbao
10	Víctor Fernández	Valladolid	16
	Lyuboslav Penev	Compostela
	Ismael Urzaiz	Athletic Bilbao