Spain once again has a golden boot amongst it's ranks. Roy Makaay added another to his tally on the last weekend, his 29th in the league, to confirm his position as Europe's leading goalscorer and equal Bebeto's club record. The Dutch striker inherits the crown from his team mate Diego Tristán, who himself was only the second Deportivo player to win the Pichichi.

A real fight (or should be say "Real" fight) for second place though, with Ronaldo scoring two in the last match to give Real Madrid the league title ahead of Real Sociedad, for whom Nihat and Kovacevic got their names on the scoresheet once again. Ronaldo and Nihat ended up drawing for the runners-up spot with 23 apiece, although Ronaldo finishes higher in our table (as does Raúl) for the goals he scored in Europe. Top scorer in the Spanish cup was Real Madrid's Portillo, who hardly played at all in the league.

It was a strange season though, with record high (43 goals in week 37) and low (13 goals in week 26) tallies. All in all some 1,316 goals were scored in official club games, 130 better than last year. There were 1,015 goals in the league, an average of 2.67 per match. See the weekly reports below for more details.

Week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38

Málaga's "Gato" Romero took this year's villains prize just ahead of Varela. Both have 24 points, but the Uruguayan midfielder has missed eight games through suspension, four more than his rival. That would have been a record had it not been for Eto'o, who missed ten. On the red card front, three players were sent off three times during the season, Alex (Espanyol), Ayala (Valencia) and Unai (Villarreal).

Several players picked up suspensions in the last game of the season, including Barcelona's Patrick Kluivert, whose four match ban has been reduced to two on appeal. He was shown the red card after a bust up with Celta's Angel, who was also sent off and who will miss the first game. Four others will also be sitting it out on 31st August for accumulation of yellow cards, including Luis Fernández (Betis), De Quintana (Rayo) David García (Espanyol) and Hierro (Real Madrid). Whether Don Fernando will serve out his sentence depends of course on whether he stays in Spain or not.

There were a total of 2,383 yellow cards and 160 reds in the Spanish league and cup this year, which although high, is in line with previous seasons. That works out at over 6 cards a game, with a player sent off on average once every two and a half matches. On a club basis, Sevilla and (surprisingly) Atlético Madrid tied for top spot with 178 "points", followed by Málaga with 174. Curiously, the lowest totals went to the top three sides in the league, Real Madrid with 90 points, Real Sociedad with 97 and Deportivo with 112. See the weekly reports below for more details.

Week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38

Celta's Pablo Cavallero won this year's Zamora prize well ahead of his nearest rival, Santiago Cañizares, who was the winner of the last two editions. The Argentina first choice keeper helped his side qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history, but having achieved that goal was rested for the last match of the season to ensure he won the prize. Cavallero ended with a -8 record, one of only four keepers this season to let in less than a goal a game.

Only three keepers had an ever present record this season, including Casillas (Real Madrid), Prats (Betis) and Bizzarri (Valladolid). Sadly both Molina (Deportivo) and Burgos (Atlético) were struck down by cancer, although both responded well to treatment and were playing again by the end of the season. All in all 48 players spent time between the sticks in the league, including one outfield player, Recreativo's Espinola, after Luque was sent off with all substitutions made.

Week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38

Itturalde Gónzalez pinched our white stick award from under the nose of Pérez Lasa with six yellow cards in the cup final. Rated one of the best referees in the league, Iturralde's top spot was a bit of a surprise. He did however officiate in more games than anyone else, and his average of 5.96 cards per game was well below Pérez Lasa's 7.28. But them's the rules!

Our men in black produced a sum total of 2,327 yellow cards and 166 reds in league and cup competitions this season, which on an overall basis was down on last year, even though the red card tally was up. That works out at over six a game. For a good read check out our weekly reports (links below), as once again some of their performances were the stuff that legends are made from.

It seems we pensioned López Nieto off a season too early, and he did continue for another year after returning from the world cup with his name in the record books (for number of cards shown at least). He will however be hanging up his whistle this summer, as will Fernández Marín, and with Pérez Pérez relegated back to the second division, we will be seeing three new faces next September. Our breath is duly baited.

Week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38