The2002–03La Liga season was the 72nd since its establishment. It began on 31 August 2002, and concluded on 22 June 2003.
Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from theSegunda División. The promoted teams wereAtlético Madrid,Racing Santander andRecreativo, returning to the top flight after an absence of two, one and twenty three years respectively. They replacedLas Palmas,Tenerife andZaragoza after spending time in the top flight for two, one and twenty four years respectively.
| Atlético Madrid Racing Santander Recreativo | Las Palmas Tenerife Zaragoza |
| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Barcelona | Camp Nou | 98,772 |
| Real Madrid | Santiago Bernabéu | 80,354 |
| Espanyol | Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys | 55,926 |
| Atlético Madrid* | Vicente Calderón | 55,005 |
| Valencia | Mestalla | 55,000 |
| Real Betis | Manuel Ruiz de Lopera | 52,132 |
| Sevilla | Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán | 45,500 |
| Athletic Bilbao | San Mamés | 39,750 |
| Deportivo de La Coruña | Riazor | 34,600 |
| Celta de Vigo | Estadio Balaídos | 32,500 |
| Real Sociedad | Anoeta | 32,200 |
| Málaga | La Rosaleda | 30,044 |
| Valladolid | José Zorrilla | 27,846 |
| Mallorca | Son Moix | 23,142 |
| Villarreal | El Madrigal | 23,000 |
| Racing de Santander* | El Sardinero | 22,400 |
| Recreativo de Huelva* | Nuevo Colombino | 19,860 |
| Alavés | Mendizorrotza | 19,840 |
| Osasuna | El Sadar | 19,553 |
| Rayo Vallecano | Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas | 14,505 |
(*) Promoted fromSegunda División.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid(C) | 38 | 22 | 12 | 4 | 86 | 42 | +44 | 78 | Qualification for theChampions League group stage |
| 2 | Real Sociedad | 38 | 22 | 10 | 6 | 71 | 45 | +26 | 76 | |
| 3 | Deportivo La Coruña | 38 | 22 | 6 | 10 | 67 | 47 | +20 | 72 | Qualification for theChampions League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Celta Vigo | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 45 | 36 | +9 | 61 | |
| 5 | Valencia | 38 | 17 | 9 | 12 | 56 | 35 | +21 | 60 | Qualification for theUEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Barcelona | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 63 | 47 | +16 | 56 | |
| 7 | Athletic Bilbao | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 63 | 61 | +2 | 55 | |
| 8 | Real Betis | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 56 | 53 | +3 | 54 | |
| 9 | Mallorca | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 49 | 56 | −7 | 52 | Qualification for theUEFA Cup first round[a] |
| 10 | Sevilla | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 38 | 39 | −1 | 50 | |
| 11 | Osasuna | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 40 | 48 | −8 | 47[b] | |
| 12 | Atlético Madrid | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 51 | 56 | −5 | 47[b] | |
| 13 | Málaga | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 44 | 49 | −5 | 46[c] | |
| 14 | Valladolid | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 37 | 40 | −3 | 46[c] | |
| 15 | Villarreal | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 44 | 53 | −9 | 45 | Qualification for theIntertoto Cup third round |
| 16 | Racing Santander | 38 | 13 | 5 | 20 | 54 | 64 | −10 | 44 | Qualification for theIntertoto Cup second round |
| 17 | Espanyol | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 48 | 54 | −6 | 43 | |
| 18 | Recreativo(R) | 38 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 35 | 61 | −26 | 36 | Relegation to theSegunda División |
| 19 | Alavés(R) | 38 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 38 | 68 | −30 | 35 | |
| 20 | Rayo Vallecano(R) | 38 | 7 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 62 | −31 | 32 |
| Home \ Away | ATH | ATM | FCB | BET | CEL | ALV | RCD | ESP | MCF | MLL | OSA | RAC | RVA | RMA | RSO | REC | SFC | VCF | VLD | VIL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athletic Bilbao | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | |
| Atlético Madrid | 3–3 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | |
| Barcelona | 2–2 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 6–1 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 6–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 1–0 | |
| Betis | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | |
| Celta de Vigo | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | |
| Alavés | 2–4 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | |
| Deportivo La Coruña | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–4 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | |
| Espanyol | 3–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | |
| Málaga | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–4 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | |
| Mallorca | 1–1 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | |
| Osasuna | 1–5 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | |
| Racing Santander | 3–4 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 5–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | |
| Rayo Vallecano | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–2 | |
| Real Madrid | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 5–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 1–5 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | |
| Real Sociedad | 4–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | |
| Recreativo | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 5–0 | |
| Sevilla | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 3–1 | |
| Valencia | 5–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | |
| Valladolid | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | |
| Villarreal | 1–1 | 4–3 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 5–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
ThePichichi Trophy is awarded to the player who scores the most goals in a season.
Real Madrid was the winner of the Fair-play award, with 76 points; second was Real Sociedad; and third was Deportivo La Coruña.[17][18]
Real Sociedadsupporters[19]
| Player | Club | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Málaga | Recreativo Huelva | 3–2 (A) | 1 September 2002 | |
| Rayo Vallecano | Racing Santander | 3–1 (H) | 22 September 2002 | |
| Valencia | Athletic Bilbao | 5–1 (H) | 26 October 2002 | |
| Barcelona | Alavés | 6–1 (H) | ||
| Mallorca | Valladolid | 3–1 (A) | 2 November 2002 | |
| Atlético Madrid | Athletic Bilbao | 3–3 (H) | 10 November 2002 | |
| Athletic Bilbao | Atlético Madrid | 3–3 (A) | ||
| Barcelona | Mallorca | 4–0 (A) | 21 December 2002 | |
| Barcelona | Real Betis | 4–0 (H) | 22 February 2003 | |
| Deportivo La Coruña | Alavés | 6–0 (H) | ||
| Real Madrid | Alavés | 5–1 (A) | 1 March 2003 | |
| Deportivo La Coruña | Recreativo Huelva | 5–0 (H) | 4 May 2003 |