Spanish La Liga
La Liga, officially known as the Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, is Spain’s top professional football league and has been in existence since 1929. The first division is called Primera División—commonly referred to simply as La Liga—while the second tier is known as Segunda División. Since 1997, the top division has featured 20 competing clubs.
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| Athletic Club Real Unión Doblete 1930 |
Key Facts
La Liga, officially the Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, is Spain’s top football league, founded in 1929. The competition features 20 clubs, each playing 38 matches per season. Known for its rich history, fierce rivalries and global influence, La Liga has been home to legendary teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, as well as football icons such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Zidane. With strong performances in European competitions and deep cultural significance in Spain, La Liga stands as one of the most prestigious and competitive football leagues in the world.
History
The first organized football league in Spain was the Catalan Football Championship (Campionat de Catalunya), founded in 1901. After La Liga was created in 1929, both competitions ran in parallel until the Catalan league was discontinued in 1940. La Liga began in 1929 with a single division, the Primera División, made up of ten clubs, and later expanded several times. By 1987, the league grew to 20 teams, a format that has remained stable apart from a brief period between 1995 and 1997 when 22 clubs participated.
League system
The first and second division was founded together in 1929. In 1977, Segunda División B was founded to replace Tercera División as the third tier. Tercera División has since that been the fourth tier. An overview of the current national league system is presented in table 1.
Table 1. Spanish football tiers
| Club | Tier |
|---|---|
| Primera División (La Liga) | 1 |
| Segunda División | 2 |
| Segunda División B | 3 |
| Tercera División | 4 |
Below the forth tier the national football is played with regional divisions.
Qualification for European Cups
Today, the top four teams in La Liga qualify for the UEFA Champions League, while the fifth-placed team earns a spot in the UEFA Europa League. An additional Europa League place is granted to the winner of the Copa del Rey.
Relegations
Currently, the three lowest-ranked teams in Primera División (18th to 20th place) are relegated to the Segunda División.
Stats
Teams with most titles
Statistics of all Spanish clubs that have won the top division in Spain, concerning the period 1929-2024.
Table 2. Clubs and La Liga titles
| Club | Titles | 1st title |
|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid | 36 | 1931-32 |
| Barcelona | 27 | 1929-30 |
| Atlético Madrid | 10 | 1939-40 |
| Athletic Bilbao | 8 | 1929-30 |
| Valencia | 6 | 1941-42 |
| Real Sociedad | 2 | 1980-81 |
| Real Betis | 1 | 1934-35 |
| Sevilla | 1 | 1945-46 |
| Deportivo La Coruña | 1 | 1999-00 |
Real Madrid and Barcelona have long dominated Spanish football. From La Liga’s first season in 1929 to the present, the two giants have claimed 60 of 89 league titles. In total, only nine different clubs have been crowned Spanish champions—a striking contrast to the 16 title-winning clubs in Italy and 28 in Germany.
Teams with most La Liga participation
This dataset summarizes the Spanish clubs that have made more than 50 appearances in the Primera División between 1929 and 2022.
Table 3. Clubs and league participation
| Club | Participation |
|---|---|
| Real Madrid | 91 |
| Barcelona | 91 |
| Athletic Bilbao | 91 |
| Espanyol | 86 |
| Valencia | 85 |
| Atlético Madrid | 85 |
| Sevilla | 78 |
| Real Sociedad | 75 |
| Zaragoza | 58 |
| Real Betis | 56 |
| Celta Vigo | 56 |
Between the first season and the last, in total 62 clubs have participated in top division of the Spanish league..
Audience
Capacity of La Liga stadiums
This table presents the Spanish clubs that have competed in Primera División more than 50 times between 1929 and 2022. As shown, stadium capacities vary significantly across La Liga. Camp Nou, home to FC Barcelona since 1957, is the largest venue with nearly 100,000 seats, while the league’s average stadium capacity is approximately 36,104.
Table 4. The stadium capacities in the La Liga season 2019-2020
| Team | Stadium name | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Alavés | Mendizorroza | 19,840 |
| Athletic Bilbao | San Mamés | 53,289 |
| Atlético Madrid | Wanda Metropolitano | 67,703 |
| Barcelona | Camp Nou | 99,354 |
| Celta Vigo | Balaídos | 29,000 |
| Eibar | Ipurua | 8,050 |
| Espanyol | RCDE Stadium | 40,500 |
| Getafe | Coliseum Alfonso Pérez | 17,393 |
| Granada | Nuevo Los Cármenes | 19,336 |
| Leganés | Butarque | 12,450 |
| Levante | Ciutat de València | 26,354 |
| Mallorca | Son Moix | 24,262 |
| Osasuna | El Sadar | 18,570 |
| Real Betis | Benito Villamarín | 60,720 |
| Real Madrid | Santiago Bernabéu | 81,044 |
| Real Sociedad | Anoeta | 25,000 |
| Sevilla | Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán | 42,714 |
| Valencia | Mestalla | 55,000 |
| Valladolid | José Zorrilla | 26,512 |
| Villarreal | Estadio de la Cerámica | 23,500 |
Former La Liga clubs and stadiums: Girona, Montilivi (13,500); Huesca, El Alcoraz (7,638); Rayo Vallecano, Vallecas (14,708).
Players
Top goalscorers
Lionel Messi is La Liga’s all-time leading goalscorer, having scored 438 goals for Barcelona as of May 2020. He is also the only player to score 50 goals in a single season. It is worth noting that the number of league matches per season has changed over time — for comparison, Telmo Zarra scored 38 goals in the 1950–51 season, when each team played just 30 games.
Cristiano Ronaldo ranks second on the all-time scoring list with 311 goals for Real Madrid in only 292 appearances, giving him the highest goal-per-game ratio in league history. Other top scorers include Hugo Sánchez with 234 goals for Real Madrid (1981–1994), Raúl with 228 goals for Real Madrid (1994–2010), and Alfredo Di Stéfano with 227 goals for Real Madrid (1953–1966).
The record for most La Liga appearances belongs to former Spanish national goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta, who played 622 matches, most of them for Barcelona. He is followed by Real Madrid legend Raúl, who made 550 league appearances.
La Liga timeline
1909
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (Real Federación Española de Fútbol; RFEF) is founded.
1929
The league is established.
1934
The league is expanded to 12 clubs.
1936
The 1936-37 season is cancelled due to the Spanish Civil War.
1939
The league is restored after the war.
1941
The league is expanded to 14 clubs.
1950
The league is expanded to 16 clubs.
1971
The league is expanded to 18 clubs.
1987
The league is expanded to 20 clubs.
1995
The league is expanded to 22 clubs.
1995
From the 1995-96 season, wins are awarded three points instead of two.
1997
The league is reduced to 20 clubs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Liga
https://www.laliga.es/estadisticas-historicas
Image source:
Roberto Vicario
