1986–87 La Liga

The 1986–87 La Liga season, the 56th since its establishment, started on August 30, 1986 and finished on June 21, 1987.

Real Madrid retained the title, but this time finished just a single point ahead of Barcelona compared to 11 points a year earlier. It was the last of three seasons as Barcelona manager for the Englishman Terry Venables before his dismissal, the arrival of British strikers Gary Lineker and Mark Hughes not being enough to save his job or bring the title back to Camp Nou.

It was composed of the following clubs:

Canary Islands
 

It was the longest season ever in Spanish football. The league had two phases. In the first one, all 18 teams played each other twice (home and away). At the end of the first phase, the first six teams qualified for the championship group (Group A), the next six qualified for the intermediate group (Group B) and the last six qualified for the relegation group (Group C). In the second phase, teams played only against teams of the same group twice (home and away) and carried their first phase record. The last three in relegation group should have been relegated at the end of the season, but in the middle of the season it was decided that the Primera División and Segunda División would be expanded to 20 teams. In the end, the last three teams of the relegation group played a playoff and only Racing de Santander was relegated.

First phase

Key to colors in league table
Qualify for Group A (Championship)
Qualify for Group B (Intermediate)
Qualify for Group C (Relegation)
P Club Pld W D L GF GA Pts GD
1Real Madrid 3420104612950+32
2FC Barcelona 3418133512249+29
3RCD Español 341798523043+22
4Sporting de Gijón 3414911473637+11
5RCD Mallorca 3414812424636-4
6Zaragoza 34131011313036+1
7Atlético Madrid 3413912374035-3
8Betis 3413813364334-7
9Sevilla FC 3413813413534+6
10Real Sociedad 3413813453534+10
11Murcia 3413615314332-12
12Valladolid 3411914313231-1
13Athletic Bilbao 3411914394031-1
14UD Las Palmas 3411716414829-7
15Osasuna 3481115244027-16
16Racing de Santander 349817314926-18
17CE Sabadell FC 3471116285025-22
18Cádiz CF 348719224223-20

First Phase Results Table

ATH ATM BAR BET CÁD ESP LPA MALL MUR OSA RAC RMA RSO SAB SEV SPG VLD ZAR
Athletic Bilbao 3-0 2-2 0-0 0-0 2-1 3-0 2-1 2-0 4-1 1-2 1-2 1-1 4-2 0-1 0-0 1-0 1-0
Atlético Madrid 2-0 0-4 1-1 2-0 1-1 1-1 3-1 2-0 1-0 0-1 1-1 1-0 1-1 0-2 1-0 1-0 2-1
FC Barcelona 4-1 1-1 2-0 2-0 1-0 4-0 3-1 2-0 4-2 2-0 3-2 1-0 3-1 1-0 0-4 3-0 0-0
Betis 0-0 2-1 0-1 4-1 2-0 3-1 1-0 3-1 0-0 2-0 2-6 1-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 2-1 0-1
Cádiz CF 1-0 0-1 0-1 1-1 0-2 1-2 1-0 0-1 0-0 3-0 0-0 1-0 3-1 2-0 2-0 1-1 0-1
RCD Español 2-1 2-1 1-1 3-1 1-0 3-1 3-1 2-0 1-0 2-0 0-0 2-2 3-1 5-1 0-0 1-0 2-0
UD Las Palmas 2-1 2-1 0-0 0-0 5-0 3-2 3-0 1-1 2-0 3-2 0-1 0-1 0-0 2-1 3-4 2-0 1-1
RCD Mallorca 1-1 4-3 1-1 3-1 0-1 1-1 4-0 1-0 0-0 3-1 1-0 1-0 1-0 1-1 1-0 3-2 2-0
Murcia 2-0 2-1 1-0 3-0 1-0 1-4 1-0 2-0 0-0 2-1 1-3 1-2 2-0 2-1 2-0 1-0 1-2
Osasuna 0-1 0-2 0-2 2-1 3-0 1-0 2-1 0-0 0-0 2-0 1-0 1-3 1-1 1-1 0-2 1-0 1-0
Racing de Santander 2-1 1-1 0-0 2-0 2-1 1-3 1-0 1-2 1-1 1-1 0-0 1-0 3-0 2-0 1-2 0-0 1-2
Real Madrid 2-4 4-1 1-1 3-0 2-1 1-0 1-1 3-0 1-0 2-1 3-0 1-0 4-0 2-1 2-2 2-1 3-1
Real Sociedad 2-1 0-1 1-1 1-0 4-0 3-3 2-1 7-1 1-1 2-0 1-1 0-2 4-1 0-2 2-1 1-2 1-0
CE Sabadell FC 0-0 0-2 1-1 1-1 1-0 1-1 1-0 1-3 1-0 3-1 1-1 0-1 2-2 2-2 0-0 1-0 1-0
Sevilla FC 3-1 3-0 0-0 1-2 0-0 1-0 1-0 2-1 4-0 1-1 2-0 0-1 1-1 0-1 3-0 2-1 3-0
Sporting de Gijón 2-0 1-1 0-0 3-0 2-1 0-1 1-2 2-2 4-1 3-0 2-1 2-2 0-1 2-1 3-1 3-1 1-0
Valladolid 2-0 0-0 0-0 2-1 1-1 1-0 2-1 0-1 4-0 1-1 2-0 1-1 1-0 1-0 1-0 2-0 1-1
Zaragoza 0-0 1-0 2-0 2-3 1-0 0-0 2-1 0-0 0-0 1-0 4-1 2-2 1-0 2-1 2-0 1-1 0-0

Second phase

Key to colors in league tables
Qualify for European Cup
Qualify for UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Qualify for UEFA Cup
Relegation playoff
Relegated to Segunda División

Group A (Championship)

P Club Pld W D L GF GA Pts GD
1Real Madrid 4427125843766+47
2FC Barcelona 4424155632963+34
3RCD Español 44201113664651+20
4Sporting de Gijón 44161315585045+8
5Zaragoza 44151415464744-1
6RCD Mallorca 44151217486542-17

Group A Results Table

BAR ESP MALL RMA SPG ZAR
FC Barcelona 2-1 1-0 2-1 2-0 3-2
RCD Español 0-0 5-0 2-3 2-1 2-1
RCD Mallorca 0-1 1-0 0-4 1-1 2-2
Real Madrid 0-0 2-2 3-0 4-0 2-1
Sporting de Gijón 1-0 4-0 1-1 0-1 1-1
Zaragoza 2-1 2-0 1-1 1-3 2-2

Group B (Intermediate)

P Club Pld W D L GF GA Pts GD
1Atlético Madrid 44181115585447+4
2Real Sociedad 4419916595447+5
3Betis 4418917615945+2
4Valladolid 44151118424541-3
5Murcia 4417720506341-13
6Sevilla FC 44141119515339-2

Group B Results Table

ATM BET MUR RSO SEV VLD
Atlético Madrid 3-2 4-2 5-1 2-0 0-1
Betis 2-1 5-0 5-1 1-2 3-2
Murcia 1-2 3-2 4-0 2-0 4-1
Real Sociedad 2-1 2-1 2-1 2-1 2-0
Sevilla FC 2-2 1-3 2-2 1-1 1-2
Valladolid 1-1 1-1 2-0 0-1 1-0

Group C (Relegation)

P Club Pld W D L GF GA Pts GD
1Athletic Bilbao 44151217515042+1
2UD Las Palmas 4416919596741-8
3CE Sabadell FC 44121418385938-21
4Osasuna 44121418404838-8
5Racing de Santander 4412923466633-20
6Cádiz CF 4410925315929-28

Group C Results Table

ATH CÁD LPA OSA RAC SAB
Athletic Bilbao 1-0 4-1 0-2 3-1 1-1
Cádiz CF 1-1 2-4 1-0 2-1 0-0
UD Las Palmas 1-2 2-1 1-1 3-2 1-1
Osasuna 0-0 3-2 4-0 4-0 0-1
Racing de Santander 2-0 3-0 1-3 1-1 4-0
CE Sabadell FC 1-0 2-0 1-2 2-1 1-0

Relegation playoff

Racing de Santander 1-1 Cádiz CF Penalties:4-3
Cádiz CF 1-1 Osasuna Penalties:4-3
Osasuna 2-0 Racing de Santander
P Club Pld W D L GF GA Pts GD
1Osasuna 2110313+2
2Cádiz CF 20202220
3Racing de Santander 2011131-2

Pichichi Trophy

Goalscorers Goal Team
Mexico Hugo Sánchez
34
Real Madrid
England Gary Lineker
20
FC Barcelona
Spain Enrique Magdaleno
19
RCD Mallorca
Argentina Gabriel Calderón
18
Betis
Spain Pichi Alonso
17
RCD Español
La Liga 1986–87 Winners
Real Madrid
22nd Title