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After 38 matchdays and 11 months, the curtains finally fell on another exciting yet unusually long season of the La Liga.
Real Madrid deservedly lifted a record 34th La Liga title, pipping defending champions Barcelona in the process. Atletico Madrid and Sevilla joined the top two in qualifying for the Champions League next season while the likes of Mallorca, Leganes and Espanyol suffered the heartbreak of relegation.
The La Liga win was particularly special for Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane since it was the club's first major trophy since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018.
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On the other hand, Barcelona’s city rivals Espanyol experienced a complete reversal in fortunes – going from qualification to Europa League to relegation in consecutive seasons. La Periquitos will ply their trade in the second division in the 2020-21 campaign after spending 26 consecutive seasons in the La Liga
In this article, we review the 2019-20 La Liga season, comparing teams’ performances and standings from the previous season to find out the most improved and declined teams of the season:
Also Read - Premier League 2019-20 review: The most improved and declined teams of the season.
Three most improved and declined teams of the 2019-20 La Liga season:
#1A: Improved – Villarreal
2019-20 La Liga Standing: 5th (60 points)
2018-19 La Liga Standing: 14th (44 points).
The Yellow Submarines led by Santi Cazorla enjoyed a fine La Liga season, culminating in a Europa League qualification for next season. The veteran Spaniard enjoyed a stellar campaign, netting 11 times and assisting another ten in the La Liga.
Cazorla’s vision was evident throughout the campaign, and striker Gerard Moreno benefitted the most from it. The Spanish striker smashed in 18 La Liga goalsto win the Telmo Zarra Trophy for the highest-scoring Spaniard in La Liga this season.
Under the stewardship of Javier Calleja, Villarreal were the season’s biggest improvers, going from 14th last season to fift this campaign. In the process, they recorded 16 more points and 14 more goals from a disappointing 2018-19 La Liga campaign.
Villareal's form after the break was terrific; they won seven of their 11 matches, which propelled them from eighth to fifth to help them qualify for Europe.
With former Arsenal manager Unai Emery taking over from the 2020-21 season and Cazorla departing for Al Sadd in the summer, it will be certainly interesting to see how the Yellow Submarine performs in the La Liga next season.
#1B: Declined – Espanyol
2019-20 La Liga Standing - 20th (25 points)
2018-19 La Liga Standing - 7th (53 points).
While Villarreal were the biggest improvers in the La Liga this season, Espanyol took the opposite spot in the podium as they were the biggest decliners from the 2018-19 season.
From qualifying from Europe last season to finishing rock bottom this campaign, Espanyol dropped a staggering 13 places while scoring a meagre 27 goals – the lowest tally in the 2019-20 La Liga.
La Periquitos struggled to handle the demands of playing in Europe on Thursdays and domestic fixtures in the weekend. The effect was so immense that they were stuck in the relegation zone in 37 out of the 38 matchweeks and remained rock bottom from matchday 16 onwards.
A lot of fan anger seems directed towards the club’s Chinese owner Chen Yansheng as managerial instability and poor transfer strategy played a part in the club’s downfall this season.
The club let go three managers and spent close to €60 million on transfers but most of them failed to settle in and find their rhythm. With a strong fanbase and a decent squad, Espanyol will be hoping for a swift return to the La Liga at the end of the next season.
#2A: Improved – Real Sociedad
2019-20 La Liga Standing - 6th (56 points)
2018-19 La Liga Standing - 9th (50 points).
A similar story to Villarreal, Real Sociedad were pleasing to watch and played some incredible football in the La Liga this season. They finished as the season’s highest top scorer after Real Madrid, Barcelona and Villarreal, with qualification to the Europa League being the reward for their efforts.
However, in all regards, La Real would be disappointed with their form after the break. The team from the Basque country who went into the lockdown in fourth place, managed a miserable return of ten points from 11 games after the break to slip to sixth.
Yet, as a season overall, it was a huge improvement from their last season's ninth-placed finish as they accomplished their objective of getting into the European spots for the first time since 2017.
Their young attacking trio of Mikel Oyarzabal, Alexander Isak and Martin Odegaard were a joy to watch at times, and La Real will be hoping to see more of the same in the next La Liga season.
#2B: Declined - Valencia
2019-20 La Liga Standing - 9th (53 points)
2018-19 La Liga Standing - 4th (61 points).
Valencia were undoubtedly the underachievers of the 2019-20 La Liga season. The turmoil began as soon as the board sacked coach Marcelino after just three matchdays. His replacement, Albert Celades failed to reignite a faltering team as Valencia finished an underwhelming ninth.
The team that had the best defensive record last season (conceded 35 goals), shipped goals for fun this campaign (53).
Valencia’s fortunes in the Champions League contrasted with their league form, though, as they topped of a group containing the likes of Chelsea and Ajax before high-flying Atlanta knocked them out in the Round of 16.
The only highlight of Valencia's La Liga campaign was a 2-0 victory over Barcelona at the Mestalla, which was Los Murcelegos’ first home win in the league over the Blaugrana since 2007.
With Ferran Torres joining Manchester City in the summer and the likes of Dani Parejo and Geoffrey Kondogbia attracting interest from elsewhere, uncertain times loom large for the club.
#3A: Improved – Real Madrid
2019-20 La Liga Standing - 1st (87 points)
2018-19 La Liga Standing - 3rd (68 points).
La Liga winners for the record 34th time, Real Madrid were well worth the money in 2019-20. They weren’t the most pleasing side in the league, winning multiple games by the skin of their teeth, yet the drive and belief to achieve their ultimate goal – becoming the kings of Spain - got them through.
The 2.0 version of Zinedine Zidane’s Los Blancos was built around defensive solidity coupled with their usual swagger in the attacking third. To put things into perspective, Real Madrid conceded just 25 goals throughout the campaign, 21 fewer than they did in the 2018-19 campaign.
This new-found solidity was evident in their victories over direct rivals Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at home late in the season, which went a long way towards clinching the La Liga title.
To praise only their defence will not do any justice to the midfielders and the forwards,who played their part in securing the title. Karim Benzema finished as Real Madrid's’s top goal-scorer for the second La Liga season running.
The Frenchman surely seems to have benefitted the most since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018 as he finished second only to Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot with 21 strikes to his name.
#3B: Declined - Leganes
2019-20 La Liga Standing - 18th (36 points)
2018-19 La Liga Standing - 13th (45 points).
Leganes, along with Mallorca and Espanyol, were the unfortunate teams to suffer relegation from the La Liga this season.
Unlike the other two teams, Los Pepineros fought until the last seconds, requiring an unlikely win against Champions Real Madrid on the final day to survive. Although they avoided defeat, it wasn’t enough to save their top-flight status.
Leganes are a true fairytale story after having achieved promotion to the Spanish first division for the first time in their history in 2016. Their stadium might be the second smallest in the division (capacity of 12,450), but the support that they receive is unparalleled.
The 2018-19 La Liga campaign was Leganes' best to date as they finished 13th and eight points away from the relegation zone. But the 2019-20 season started woefully for the club as they mustered a mere six points from their first 15 games. More misery was in store for the club when their top scorer Martin Braithwaite was poached away by Barcelona in the January transfer window.
Despite all the odds, Leganes under the leadership of Javier Aguirre fought back well towards the end after a demoralising first half of the season. The team remained unbeaten in their last five La Liga games, picking up 11 points to rekindle hopes ofd an unlikely survival but in the end they fell agonisingly short by a solitary point.
