La Liga

General

Image gallery

La Liga
Country	Spain
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	1929
Number of teams	20
Relegation to	Segunda División
Level on pyramid	1
Domestic cup(s)	Copa del Rey Supercopa de España
UEFA cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Europa Conference League
Current champions	Real Madrid (36th title) (2023–24)
Most successful club	Real Madrid (36 titles)
Website	Official website
2024-25

The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, "First Division National League Championship". commonly known as the Primera División, or LaLiga, and officially LALIGA EA SPORTS since 2023 for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional football division of the Spanish football league system. It is controlled by the LFP and is contested by 20 teams over a 38-matchday period.

Since its inception, a total of 62 teams have competed in La Liga. Nine teams have been crowned champions, with Barcelona winning the inaugural La Liga and Real Madrid winning the title a record 35 times. Barcelona are the most recent winners, having won the 2022–23 edition. During the 1940s Valencia, Atlético Madrid and Barcelona emerged as the strongest clubs, winning several titles. Real Madrid and Barcelona dominated the championship in the 1950s, each winning four La Liga titles during the decade. During the 1960s and 1970s, Real Madrid dominated La Liga, winning fourteen titles, with Atlético Madrid winning four. During the 1980s and 1990s Real Madrid were prominent in La Liga, but the Basque clubs of Athletic Club and Real Sociedad had their share of success, each winning two Liga titles. From the 1990s onward, Barcelona have dominated La Liga, winning seventeen titles to date. Although Atlético Madrid has been prominent, winning eleven titles, La Liga has also seen other champions, including Valencia and Deportivo La Coruña.

According to UEFA's league coefficient rankings, La Liga has been the top league in Europe in each of the seven years from 2013 to 2019 (calculated using accumulated figures from five preceding seasons) and has led Europe for 22 of the 60 ranked years up to 2019, more than any other country. It has also produced the continent's top-rated club more times (22) than any other league in that period, more than double that of second-placed Serie A (Italy), including the top club in 10 of the 11 seasons between 2009 and 2019; each of these pinnacles was achieved by either Barcelona or Real Madrid. La Liga clubs have won the most UEFA Champions League (19), 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 Bundesliga and Premier League, and above Serie A and Ligue 1. 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.

Teams

20 teams contest the league in its current season, including the top 17 sides from the 2022–23 season and three promoted from the 2022–23 Segunda División. Granada and Las Palmas were promoted directly and Alavés won the promotion play-off.

Team	Location	2022–23 season	First season in Primera División	No. of Primera División seasons	Stadium	Stadium Capacity	Primera División titles	Manager
Alavés	Vitoria-Gasteiz	4th (SD)	1930–31	17	Mendizorrotza	19,840	0	Luis García Plaza
Almería	Almería	17th	2007–08	7	Power Horse Stadium	15,294	0	Gaizka Garitano
Athletic Bilbao	Bilbao	8th	1929	93	San Mamés	53,289	8	Ernesto Valverde
Atlético Madrid	Madrid	3rd	1929	87	Metropolitano Stadium	70,460	11	Diego Simeone
Barcelona	Barcelona	1st	1929	93	Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys	54,367	27	Xavi (born 1980)
Cádiz	Cádiz	14th	1977–78	16	Nuevo Mirnadilla	20,724	0	Sergio González
Celta Vigo	Vigo	13th	1939–40	58	Balaídos	24,791	0	Rafael Benítez
Getafe	Getafe	15th	2004–05	19	Estadio Coliseum	16,500	0	José Bordalás
Girona	Girona	10th	2017–18	4	Estadi Montilivi	14,624	0	Míchel
Granada	Granada	1st (SD)	1941–42	27	Nuevo Los Cármenes	19,336	0	Paco López
Las Palmas	Las Palmas	2nd (SD)	1951–52	35	Estadio Gran Canaria	32,400	0	García Pimienta
Mallorca	Palma	9th	1960–61	31	Estadi Mallorca Son Moix	23,142	0	Javier Aguirre
Osasuna	Pamplona	7th	1935–36	41	El Sadar	23,516	0	Jagoba Arrasate
Rayo Vallecano	Madrid	11th	1977–78	21	Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas	14,708	0	Francisco
Real Betis	Seville	6th	1932–33	58	Estadio Benito Villamarín	60,720	1	Manuel Pellegrini
Real Madrid	Madrid	2nd	1929	93	Santiago Bernabéu	83,186	35	Carlo Ancelotti
Real Sociedad	San Sebastián	4th	1929	77	Reale Arena	39,500	2	Imanol Alguacil
Sevilla	Seville	12th	1934–35	79	Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán	42,714	1	Diego Alonso
Valencia	Valencia	16th	1931–32	89	Mestalla	49,430	6	Rubén Baraja
Villarreal	Villarreal	5th	1998–99	24	Estadio de la Cerámica	23,000	0	Miguel Ángel Tena

Champions

Performance by club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning seasons
Real Madrid	35	24	1931–32, 1932–33, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1994–95, 1996–97, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2011–12, 2016–17, 2019–20, 2021–22
Barcelona	27	26	1928–29, 1944–45, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1973–74, 1984–85, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2022–23
Atlético Madrid	11	10	1939–40, 1940–41, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1995–96, 2013–14 2020-21
Athletic Bilbao	8	7	1929–30, 1930–31, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1942–43, 1955–56, 1982–83, 1983–84
Valencia	6	6	1941–42, 1943–44, 1946–47, 1970–71, 2001–02, 2003–04
Real Sociedad	2	3	1980–81, 1981–82
Deportivo La Coruña	1	5	1999–00
Sevilla	1	4	1945–46
Real Betis	1	0	1934–35

The All-time La Liga table is an overall record of all match results, points, and goals of every team that has played in La Liga since its inception in 1929. The table is accurate as of the end of the 2020–21 season. Teams in bold are part of the 2021–22 La Liga.

All-time La Liga table

Pos	Team	S	Pts	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	T	Debut	Since/ Last App	Best
1	Real Madrid	86	4461	2800	1669	562	569	6041	3184	33	23	9	8	3	4	80	1929	1929	1
2	Barcelona	86	4355	2800	1609	582	609	5999	3143	25	25	12	12	4	6	84	1929	1929	1
3	Atlético Madrid	81	3521	2652	1264	608	780	4592	3331	10	10	16	9	7	6	57	1929	2002–03	1
4	Valencia	83	3459	2702	1209	623	870	4463	3507	6	6	10	12	10	7	51	1931–32	1987–88	1
5	Athletic Bilbao	86	3411	2800	1219	646	935	4672	3749	8	7	10	5	8	10	49	1929	1929	1
6	Sevilla	74	2877	2446	1007	538	901	3729	3431	1	4	4	5	12	6	32	1934–35	2001–02	1
7	Espanyol	83	2841	2664	960	621	1083	3645	3926	–	–	4	5	2	5	16	1929	2021–22	3
8	Real Sociedad	71	2622	2340	878	584	878	3294	3289	2	3	2	5	4	3	19	1929	2010–11	1
9	Zaragoza	58	2109	1986	698	522	766	2683	2847	–	1	4	5	4	4	18	1939–40	2012–13	2
10	Real Betis	52	1945	1766	624	446	696	2222	2552	1	–	2	3	4	5	15	1932–33	2015–16	1
11	Deportivo La Coruña	46	1843	1568	569	403	596	2090	2269	1	5	4	1	–	1	12	1941–42	2017–18	1
12	Celta Vigo	52	1838	1736	599	399	738	2337	2685	–	–	–	2	4	5	11	1939–40	2012–13	4
13	Valladolid	42	1471	1466	463	384	619	1767	2180	–	–	–	1	1	1	3	1948–49	2020–21	4
14	Racing Santander	44	1416	1428	453	336	639	1843	2368	–	1	1	2	–	1	5	1929	2011–12	2
15	Sporting Gijón	43	1389	1458	471	358	629	1753	2152	–	1	1	2	2	1	7	1944–45	2016–17	2
16	Osasuna	37	1351	1318	426	327	565	1497	1833	–	–	–	2	2	2	6	1935–36	2019–20	4
17	Málaga	37	1334	1293	395	335	563	1445	1824	–	–	–	1	–	1	2	1949–50	2017–18	4
18	Oviedo	38	1174	1192	408	292	492	1642	1951	–	–	3	2	2	4	11	1933–34	2000–01	3
19	Mallorca	27	1148	988	333	256	399	1182	1371	–	–	2	–	2	1	5	1960–61	2021–22	3
20	Las Palmas	34	1042	1134	372	249	513	1371	1820	–	1	1	1	1	1	5	1951–52	2017–18	2
21	Villarreal	18	1031	684	284	179	221	949	839	–	1	1	2	4	2	10	1998–99	2013–14	2
22	Granada	23	667	742	218	175	349	819	1158	–	–	–	–	–	2	2	1941–42	2019–20	6
23	Rayo Vallecano	17	662	652	189	148	305	760	1088	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1977–78	2021–22	8
24	Getafe	13	608	494	162	122	210	562	662	–	–	–	–	–	1	1	2004–05	2017–18	6
25	Elche	21	606	678	203	180	295	750	1022	–	–	–	–	1	1	2	1959–60	2020–21	5
26	Hércules	20	538	628	184	149	295	716	1050	–	–	–	–	1	4	5	1935–36	2010–11	5
27	Tenerife	13	510	494	155	128	211	619	744	–	–	–	–	2	–	2	1961–62	2009–10	5
28	Alavés	13	468	418	140	83	195	498	673	–	–	–	–	–	1	1	1930–31	2016–17	6
29	Levante	12	462	440	124	108	208	474	690	–	–	–	–	–	1	1	1963–64	2017–18	6
30	Murcia	18	445	586	145	143	298	607	992	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1940–41	2007–08	11
31	Salamanca	12	375	423	123	102	198	422	581	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1974–75	1998–99	7
32	Sabadell	14	353	426	129	95	202	492	720	–	–	–	1	1	–	2	1943–44	1987–88	4
33	Cádiz	12	343	448	104	127	217	393	662	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1977–78	2020–21	12
34	Logroñés	9	293	346	96	92	158	291	489	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1987–88	1996–97	7
35	Castellón	11	285	334	103	79	152	419	588	–	–	–	1	2	–	3	1941–42	1990–91	4
36	Albacete	7	277	270	76	76	118	320	410	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1991–92	2004–05	7
37	Almería	6	242	228	62	56	110	244	366	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2007–08	2014–15	8
38	Córdoba	9	230	282	82	63	137	285	430	–	–	–	–	1	–	1	1962–63	2014–15	5
39	Compostela	4	190	160	52	45	63	199	241	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1994–95	1997–98	10
40	Recreativo	5	188	186	50	46	90	202	296	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1978–79	2008–09	8
41	Eibar	4	183	152	49	36	67	183	217	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2014–15	2020–21	9
42	Burgos CF	6	168	204	59	50	95	216	310	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1971–72	1979–80	12
43	Pontevedra	6	150	180	53	44	83	165	221	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1963–64	1969–70	7
44	Numancia	4	148	152	37	37	78	155	253	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1999–00	2008–09	17
45	Arenas	7	107	130	43	21	66	227	308	–	–	1	–	3	–	4	1929	1934–35	3
46	Real Burgos	3	96	114	26	44	44	101	139	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1990–91	1992–93	9
47	Gimnàstic	4	91	116	34	16	66	181	295	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1947–48	2006–07	7
48	Extremadura	2	83	80	20	23	37	62	117	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1996–97	1998–99	17
49	Mérida	2	81	80	19	24	37	70	115	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1995–96	1997–98	19
50	Leganés	2	78	76	20	18	38	70	106	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2016–17	2019–20	17
51	Alcoyano	4	76	108	30	16	62	145	252	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1945–46	1950–51	10
52	Jaén	3	71	90	29	13	48	121	183	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1953–54	1957–58	14
53	Real Unión	4	56	72	21	14	37	153	184	–	–	–	–	–	1	1	1929	1931–32	6
54	AD Almería	2	52	68	17	18	33	71	116	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1979–80	1980–81	10
55	Girona	1	51	38	14	9	15	50	59	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2017–18	2018–19	9
56	Europa	3	42	54	18	6	30	97	131	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1929	1930–31	8
57	Lleida	2	40	68	13	14	41	70	182	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1950–51	1993–94	16
58	Xerez	1	34	38	8	10	20	38	66	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2009–10	2009–10	20
59	Condal	1	22	30	7	8	15	37	57	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1956–57	1956–57	16
60	Atlético Tetuán	1	19	30	7	5	18	51	85	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1951–52	1951–52	16
61	Cultural Leonesa	1	14	30	5	4	21	34	65	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1955–56	1955–56	15
62	Huesca	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2018–19	2020–21
Notes
Note: Despite finishing the season in the 13th position in the 2014-15 La Liga, on 5 June, Elche was relegated to Segunda División due to its financial struggles, Newcomers Eibar, who finished the season in the 18th position, took Elche's place in 2015–16 La Liga.

External links

• LFP
• RFEF