The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga , and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest level of the Spanish football league system. It is controlled by the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional and is contested by 20 teams over a 38-matchday period.
Since its inception, 63 teams have competed in La Liga, with nine teams crowned champions. Real Madrid and Barcelona have dominated the competition, winning 36 and 29 titles respectively. In the 1940s, Valencia, Atlético Madrid, and Barcelona emerged as the strongest clubs. Real Madrid and Barcelona led the charge in the 1950s, each winning four titles. During the 1960s and 1970s, Real Madrid dominated with fourteen titles, with Atlético Madrid winning four. During the 1980s and 1990s, Real Madrid remained prominent, while the Basque clubs of Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad enjoyed success, each winning two titles. From the 1990s onward, Barcelona have been the most successful club, winning seventeen titles, with Real Madrid close behind. La Liga has seen other champions, including Valencia and Deportivo La Coruña.
As of the 2024–25 season, La Liga is ranked third in the UEFA coefficient rankings based on performances in European competitions over the past five seasons, behind the English Premier League and Italian Serie A. La Liga has led the coefficient rankings for more years than any league, and has also produced the continent's top-rated club more times than any other league overall. La Liga clubs have won the most UEFA Champions League (20), UEFA Europa League (14), UEFA Super Cup (16) and FIFA Club World Cup (8) titles, and its players have accumulated the highest number of Ballon d'Or awards (24), The Best FIFA Men's Player awards (19) and UEFA Men's Player of the Year awards (12).
La Liga is one of the most popular professional sports leagues globally, with an average attendance of 26,933 for league matches in the 2018–19 season. This is the eighth-highest of any domestic professional sports league in the world and the third-highest of any professional association football league in the world, behind fellow Big Five leagues the Premier League and the Bundesliga. La Liga is also the seventh wealthiest professional sports league in the world by revenue, after the NFL, MLB, the NBA, the Premier League, the NHL, and the Bundesliga.
From 2008 to 2016, it was sponsored by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and known as Liga BBVA. Then, from 2016 to 2023, it was sponsored by Banco Santander and known as LaLiga Santander. Since 2023, it has been sponsored by Electronic Arts and is known as LaLiga EA Sports.
Competition format
The competition format follows the usual double round-robin format. During the course of a season, which lasts from August to May, each club plays every other club twice, once at home and once away, for 38 matches. Teams receive three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, with the highest-ranked club crowned champion at the end of the season.
Promotion and relegation
A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Primera División and the Segunda División. The three lowest placed teams in La Liga are relegated to the Segunda División, and the top two teams from the Segunda División promoted to La Liga, with an additional club promoted after a series of play-offs involving the third, fourth, fifth and sixth placed clubs. Below is a complete record of how many teams played in each season throughout the league's history;
Tie breaker rules
If points are equal between two or more clubs, the rules are:
If all clubs involved have played each other twice:
If the tie is between two clubs, then the tie is broken using the head-to-head goal difference for those clubs (without away goals rule).
If the tie is between more than two clubs, then the tie is broken using the games the clubs have played against each other:
a) head-to-head points
b) head-to-head goal difference
If two legged games between all clubs involved have not been played, or the tie is not broken by the rules above, it is broken using:
a) total goal difference
b) total goals scored
If the tie is still not broken, the winner will be determined by Fair Play scales. These are:
yellow card, 1 point
doubled yellow card/ejection, 2 points
direct red card, 3 points
suspension or disqualification of coach, executive or other club personnel (outside referees' decisions), 5 points
misconduct of the supporters: mild 5 points, serious 6 points, very serious 7 points
stadium closure, 10 points
if the Competition Committee removes a penalty, the points are also removed
If the tie is still not broken, it will be resolved with a tie-break match in a neutral stadium.
Qualification for European competitions
Current criteria
The top four teams in La Liga qualify for the subsequent season's UEFA Champions League league stage. The winners of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League also qualify for the subsequent season's UEFA Champions League league stage.
The fifth place team in La Liga and the winner of the Copa del Rey also qualify for the subsequent season's UEFA Europa League group stage. However, if the winner also finished in the top five places in La Liga, then this place reverts to the team that finished sixth in La Liga. Furthermore, the sixth place (or seventh if sixth already qualifies due to the Copa del Rey) team qualifies for the subsequent season's UEFA Conference League play-off round.
The number of places allocated to Spanish clubs in UEFA competitions is dependent upon the position a country holds in the UEFA country coefficients, which are calculated based upon the performance of teams in UEFA competitions in the previous five years. As of the end of the 2023–24 season, the ranking of Spain (and de facto La Liga) is second.
History
Foundation
In April 1928, José María Acha, a director at Arenas de Getxo, first proposed the idea of a national league in Spain. After much debate about the size of the league and who would take part, the Real Federación Española de Fútbol eventually agreed on the ten teams who would form the first Primera División in 1929. Arenas, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad and Real Unión were all selected as previous winners of the Copa del Rey. Atlético Madrid, Espanyol and Europa qualified as Copa del Rey runners-up and Racing de Santander qualified through a knockout competition. Only three of the founding clubs (Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Athletic Bilbao) have never been relegated from the Primera División.
1930s: Athletic Bilbao dominate
Although Barcelona won the first Liga in 1929 and Ricardo Zamora's Real Madrid won their first titles in 1932 and 1933, it was Athletic Bilbao that set the early pace winning La Liga in 1930, 1931, 1934 and 1936 (in addition to four Copa trophies), and they also achieved the biggest win in La Liga history by beating Barcelona 12–1; This team, coached by Fred Pentland, is known by the nickname First historic squad, notably forming an attacking partnership with Bata, Guillermo Gorostiza, José Iraragorri, Chirri II and Lafuente. In 1935, Real Betis, then known as Betis Balompié, won their only title to date. Primera División was suspended during the Spanish Civil War.
In 1937, the teams in the Republican area of Spain, with the notable exception of the two Madrid clubs, competed in the Mediterranean League and Barcelona emerged as champions. Seventy years later, on 28 September 2007, Barcelona requested the Royal Spanish Football Federation (Spanish acronym RFEF) to recognise that title as a Liga title. This action was taken after RFEF was asked to recognise Levante's Copa de la España Libre win as equivalent to Copa del Rey trophy. Nevertheless, the governing body of Spanish football has not made an outright decision yet.
1940s: Atlético Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia emerge
When the Primera División resuming after the Spanish Civil War, it was Atlético Aviación (nowadays Atlético Madrid), Valencia, and Barcelona that emerged as the strongest clubs. Atlético were only awarded a place during the 1939–40 season as a replacement for Real Oviedo, whose ground had been damaged during the war. The club subsequently won its first Liga title and retained it in 1941. While other clubs lost players to exile, execution, and as casualties of the war, the Atlético team was reinforced by a merger. The young, pre-war squad of Valencia had also remained intact and in the post-war years matured into champions, gaining three Liga titles in 1942, 1944, and 1947. They were also runners-up in 1948 and 1949.
Athletic Bilbao was one of the clubs most affected by the war, since many of its players (sympathizers of the Republican faction) went into exile in Latin America and very few returned. But thanks to a search for young talents, they managed to form the well-known Second historic squad made up of Rafael Iriondo, Venancio Pérez, José Luis Panizo, Agustín Gaínza and the mythical scorer Telmo Zarra (Spanish top scorer in La Liga history, among other records). They won a La Liga and Copa del Generalísimo double in 1943 and won the Cup again in 1944, 1945 and 1950, in addition to an Copa Eva Duarte (official predecessor of the Supercopa). Sevilla also enjoyed a brief golden era, finishing as runners-up in 1940 and 1942 before winning their only title to date in 1946.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Spain, Barcelona began to emerge as a force under the legendary Josep Samitier. A Spanish footballer for both Barcelona and Real Madrid, Samitier cemented his legacy with Barcelona. During his playing career with Barcelona he scored 133 goals, won the inaugural La Liga title and five Copa Del Rey. In 1944, Samitier returned to Barcelona as a coach and guided them in winning their second La Liga title in 1945. Under Samitier and legendary players César Rodríguez, Josep Escolà, Estanislau Basora and Mariano Gonzalvo, Barcelona dominated La Liga in the late 1940s, winning back to back La Liga titles in 1948 and 1949. The 1940s proved to be a successful season for Barcelona, winning three La Liga titles and one Copa Del Rey, but the 1950s proved to be a decade of dominance, not just from Barcelona, but from Real Madrid.
1950s: Barcelona and Real Madrid Dominate
Although Atlético Madrid, previously known as ''Atlético Aviación'', were champions in 1950 and 1951 under mastermind Helenio Herrera, the 1950s continued the success Barcelona had during the late 1940s.
During this decade, Barcelona's first golden era emerged under coach Ferdinand Daučík, winning back-to-back La Liga and Copa Del Rey doubles in 1951–52 and 1952–53. In 1952, Barcelona made history yet again by winning five distinctive trophies in one year. This team, composed of László Kubala, Mariano Gonzalvo, César Rodríguez Álvarez, and Joan Segarra, won La Liga, Copa Del Rey, Copa Eva Duarte (predecessor of Spanish Super Cup), Latin Cup and Copa Martini & Rossi. Their success in winning five trophies in one year earned them the name 'L’equip de les cinc Copes' or The Team of the Five Cups.
In the latter parts of the 1950s, coached by Helenio Herrera and featuring Luis Suárez, Barcelona won yet again back-to-back La Ligas, winning them in 1959 and 1960. In 1959, Barcelona also won another double of La Liga and the Copa Del Rey, conquering three doubles in the 1950s.
The 1950s also saw the beginning of the Real Madrid dominance. During the 1930s through the 1950s, there were strict limits imposed on foreign players. In most cases, clubs could have only three foreign players in their squads, meaning that at least eight local players had to play in every game. During the 1950s, however, these rules were circumvented by Real Madrid, who naturalised Alfredo Di Stéfano and Ferenc Puskás. Di Stéfano, Puskás, Raymond Kopa and Francisco Gento formed the nucleus of the Real Madrid team that dominated the second half of the 1950s. Real Madrid won their third La Liga in 1954 — their first since 1933 — and retained their title in 1955. In 1956, Athletic Bilbao won their sixth La Liga title, but Real Madrid won La Liga again in 1957 and 1958.
All in all, Barcelona and Real Madrid won four La Liga titles each in the 1950s, with Atlético Madrid winning two and Athletic Bilbao winning one during this decade.
1960s–1970s: Real Madrid superiority
Real Madrid dominated La Liga between 1960 and 1980, being crowned champions 14 times. Real Madrid won five La Liga titles in a row from 1961 to 1965 as well as winning three doubles between 1960 and 1980. During the 1960s and 1970s, only Atlético Madrid offered Real Madrid any serious challenge. Atlético Madrid were crowned La Liga champions four times in 1966, 1970, 1973, and 1977. Atlético Madrid also finished second place in 1961, 1963, and 1965. In 1971, Valencia won their fourth La Liga title in 1971 under Alfredo Di Stéfano, and the Johan Cruyff-inspired Barcelona won their ninth La Liga in 1974.
1980s: Real Madrid dominate but the Basque Clubs disrupt their monopoly
Real Madrid's monopoly in La Liga was interrupted significantly in the 1980s. Although Real Madrid won another five La Liga titles from 1986 to 1990 under the brilliance of Emilio Butragueño and Hugo Sánchez, the Basque clubs of Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao also dominated the 1980s. Real Sociedad won their first La Liga titles in 1981 and 1982; Luis Arconada, Roberto López Ufarte and Txiki Begiristain stood out from this team. Later, Athletic Bilbao also managed to win two consecutive La Liga titles in 1983 and 1984, also achieving their fifth La Liga and Copa del Rey double in 1984; The stars Andoni Zubizarreta, Santi Urkiaga, Andoni Goikoetxea, Dani, Manuel Sarabia and Estanislao Argote made this success possible. For its part, Barcelona won their tenth La Liga title in 1985 under coach Terry Venables, their first La Liga win since 1974.
1990s: Barcelona's Dream Team
Johan Cruyff returned to Barcelona as manager in 1988, and assembled the legendary Dream Team. When Cruyff took control of his Barcelona side, they had won only two La Liga titles in the past 20 years. Cruyff decided to build a team composed of international stars and La Masia graduates in order to restore Barcelona to their former glory days. This team was formed by international stars Romario, Michael Laudrup, Hristo Stoichkov and Ronald Koeman. Cruyff's Dream Team also consisted of La Masia graduates Pep Guardiola, Albert Ferrer and Guillermo Amor, as well as Basque Andoni Zubizarreta.
Johan Cruyff changed the way modern football was played, and incorporated the principles of Total Football into this team. The success of possession-based football was revolutionary, and Cruyff's team won their first European Cup in 1992 and four consecutive La Liga titles between 1991 and 1994. In total, Cruyff won eleven trophies in eight years, making him the most successful manager in Barcelona's history, until the record was broken by his protégé Pep Guardiola two decades later.
Barcelona's run ended with Real Madrid winning La Liga in 1995. Atlético Madrid won their ninth La Liga title in 1996, as well as their only Liga/Copa Del Rey double, before Real Madrid added another league title to their cabinet in 1997. After the success of Cruyff, another Dutchman – Ajax manager, Louis van Gaal – arrived at the Camp Nou, and with the talents of Luís Figo, Luis Enrique, and Rivaldo, Barcelona won the La Liga title in 1998 and 1999, including their fourth double of Liga and Copa Del Rey in 1998. All in all, Barcelona won six La Liga titles in the 1990s.
2000s: Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia's re-emergence
The 21st century continued the success Barcelona had in the 1990s under Johan Cruyff, dominating La Liga. Although Real Madrid had been prominent, Barcelona created a hegemony in Spain not seen since the Real Madrid of the 1960s–70s. Since the start of the new century, Barcelona won ten La Ligas, including two trebles and four doubles. This new century however has also seen new challengers being crowned champions. Between 1999–2000 and 2004, Deportivo La Coruña finished in the top three on five occasions, a better record than either Real Madrid or Barcelona, and in 2000, under Javier Irureta, Deportivo became the ninth team to be crowned champions. Valencia were one of the strongest teams in Europe in the early to mid 2000s; they were crowned La Liga champions in 2002 and 2004 under Rafael Benítez, whilst also being runners-up in the UEFA Champions League in 2000 and 2001 under Hector Cuper and winning the UEFA Cup in 2004 and the Copa del Rey in 1999.
Real Madrid won their first Liga titles of the century in 2001 and 2003. With world-class players like Raúl, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Gonzalo Higuaín, Real Madrid won back-to-back La Liga titles in 2006–07 and 2007–08. Barcelona won their first title of the new millennium after Real Madrid and Valencia had shared the last four titles under the brilliance of Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o in the 2004–05 season. Barcelona retained the title to make it back-to-back wins in the 2005–06 season.