La Liga

La Liga
Countries  Spain
Confederation UEFA
Founded 1929
Number of teams 20
Levels on pyramid 1
Relegation to Segunda División
Domestic cup(s) Copa del Rey
International cup(s) UEFA Champions League
UEFA Europa League
Current champions Barcelona (21st title)
(2010–11)
Most championships Real Madrid (31 titles)
TV partners Digital+, GolT, laSexta
Website lfp.es facebook.com/lfpoficial
2011–12 season

The Primera División (First Division) of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (LFP), commonly known as La Liga (pronounced: [la ˈliɣa], The League) or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA (BBVA League) since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. It is contested by twenty teams, with the three lowest placed teams relegated to the Segunda División and replaced by the top three teams in that division. A total of 59 teams have competed in La Liga, nine of which have been crowned champions. Since the 1950s, Real Madrid and Barcelona have dominated the championship. The former have won the title thirty-one times while the latter have won it on twenty-one occasions. However, during the 1930s and 1940s and in the last two decades, La Liga has seen other champions including Atlético Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia, Real Sociedad, Deportivo, Real Betis and Sevilla . Barcelona have currently won the last three seasons of La Liga.

La Liga is currently the second strongest league in Europe according to UEFA's league coefficient. La Liga is one of the most popular professional sports leagues in the world, with an average attendance of 28,286 for league matches in the 2009–10 season. This is the sixth highest of any domestic professional sports league in the world and the third highest of any professional association football league, behind the German Bundesliga and English Premier League.[1]

Contents

Competition format

The competition format follows the usual double round-robin format. During the course of a season, which lasts from September to June, each club plays every other club twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 38 games. 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 at the end of the season crowned champion. If points are equal between two or more clubs, the rules are[2]:

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 are promoted to La Liga. The third team from the Segunda División to be promoted to La Liga is determined by the winner of the play-off played between the winner of the play-off between 3rd against 6th and the winner of the play-off between 4th placed against 5th. These placed teams should be considered excluding reserve teams.

Qualification for European competitions

The top teams in La Liga qualify for the UEFA Champions League, with the first, second, and third placed teams directly entering the group stage and the fourth placed team entering the third qualifying round. The fifth and sixth placed teams qualify for the first round of the UEFA Europa League.

History

Foundation

In April 1927 Jose Maria Acha, a director at Arenas Club 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. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Arenas Club de Getxo 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 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.

The 1930s

Although Barcelona won the very first Liga in 1929 and Real Madrid won their first titles in 1932 and 1933, it was Athletic Bilbao that set the early pace winning Primera División in 1930, 1931, 1934 and 1936. They were also runners-up in 1932 and 1933. 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 FC Barcelona emerged as champions. Seventy years later, on 28 September 2007, Barcelona requested RFEF to recognise that title as a Liga title. This action was taken after RFEF recognised Levante FC's Copa de la España Libre win as equivalent to Copa del Rey trophy.

The 1940s

When the Primera División resumed after the Spanish Civil War it was Atlético Aviación (nowadays Atlético Madrid), Valencia and Sevilla that initially emerged as the strongest clubs. Atlético Aviación 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 their first Liga title and retained it in 1941. While other clubs lost players to exile, execution and as casualties of the war, the Atlético Aviación 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. Sevilla also enjoyed a brief golden era, finishing as runners-up in 1940 and 1942 before winning their only title to date in 1946. By the latter part of the decade Barcelona began to emerge as a force when they were crowned champions in 1945, 1948 and 1949.

Di Stéfano, Puskás, Kubala and Suárez

Although Atlético Madrid, previously known as Atlético Aviación, were champions in 1950 and 1951 under catenaccio mastermind Helenio Herrera, the 1950s saw the beginning of the Barcelona/Real Madrid dominance. During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s there were strict limits imposed on foreign players. In most cases clubs could only have 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 and Barcelona who naturalized Alfredo di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás and Ladislav Kubala. Inspired by Kubala, Barça won the title in 1952 and 1953. Di Stéfano, Puskás and Francisco Gento formed the nucleus of the Real Madrid team that dominated the second half of the 1950s. Madrid won the first division for the first time as Real Madrid in 1954 and retained its title in 1955. They were winners again in 1957 and 1958, with only Athletic Bilbao interrupting their sequence. During this period, Real Madrid also won an unprecedented five consecutive European Cups. Barcelona with a team coached by Helenio Herrera and featuring Luis Suárez gained the title in 1959 and 1960.

The Madrid years

Between 1961 and 1980, Real Madrid dominated the Primera División being crowned champion 14 times. This included a five-in-a-row sequence from 1961 to 1965 and two three-in-a-row sequences (1967–1969 and 1978–1980). During this era only Atlético Madrid offered Real Madrid any serious challenge, adding four more titles to their tally in 1966, 1970, 1973 and 1977. Of the other clubs, only Valencia in 1971 and the Johan Cruyff-inspired Barcelona of 1974 managed to break the dominance of Real Madrid.

The 1980s

The Madrid winning sequence was ended more significantly in 1981 when Real Sociedad won their first ever title. They retained it in 1982 and their two in a row was followed by another by their fellow Basques, Athletic Bilbao who won back-to-back titles in 1983 and 1984. Terry Venables led Barcelona to a solitary title in 1985 before Real Madrid won again another five in a row sequence (1986–1990) with a team, guided by Leo Beenhakker, and including Hugo Sánchez and the legendary La Quinta del Buitre - Emilio Butragueño, Manolo Sanchís, Martín Vázquez, Míchel and Miguel Pardeza.

The 1990s

Johan Cruyff returned to Barcelona as manager in 1988, and assembled the legendary Dream Team. Cruyff introduced players like Josep Guardiola, José Mari Bakero, Txiki Beguiristain, Goikoetxea, Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Romário and Hristo Stoichkov. This team won Primera División four times between 1991 and 1994 and won the European Cup in 1992. Laudrup then moved to arch-rivals Real Madrid after a fall-out with Cruyff, and helped them end Barcelona's run in 1995. Atlético Madrid won their ninth Primera División title in 1996 before Real Madrid added another Liga trophy 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 again won the title in 1998 and 1999. Meanwhile, Real Madrid also experienced success on the continental stage, winning the UEFA Champions League in 1998.

The 2000s

As Primera División entered a new century, the Big Two found themselves facing new challengers. Between 1993 and 2004, Deportivo La Coruña finished in the top three on ten occasions, a better record than either Real Madrid or Barcelona, and in 2000, under Javier Irureta, they became the ninth team to be crowned champions. Real Madrid won two more Liga titles in 2001 and 2003 and also the UEFA Champions League in 2000 and 2002, and won their third league title in 2007 after a three year drought. They were challenged by a re-emerging Valencia in both competitions. Under the management of Héctor Cúper, Valencia finished as Champions League runners-up in 2000 and 2001. His successor, Rafael Benítez, built on this and led the club to a Liga title in 2002 and the winning a double with a league title and the UEFA Cup in 2004. The 2004–05 season saw a resurgent Barcelona, inspired by the brilliant Ronaldinho, win their first title of the new century, in addition to the Liga-Champions League double in 2005–06. Real Madrid won La Liga in 2006–07 and 2007–08 season.

The Barcelona Years

Barcelona won the league in 2009, as part of their treble winning season. On 20 May 2010, a study published by the University of Barcelona revealed that La Liga's debt had risen to €3.53 billion.[4] There were only three clubs in all the divisions (Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Numancia) who had an operating profit. The study further revealed that 85% of club debt was accumulated from player wages. The debt crisis in La Liga and Spain as a whole has led to summits held by the presidents of each club, the goal being to renegotiate the Madrid and Barcelona dominated television rights, opting for a voting-bloc system much like the Premier League. Barcelona won the title in 2010 and again in 2011 as part of a Liga-Champions League double.

Teams

Deportivo La Coruña, Hércules CF from Alicante and UD Almería were relegated to the 2011–12 Segunda División after finishing in the bottom three spots of the table at the end of the 2010–11 season. Deportivo were relegated to the Segunda División after twenty seasons of continuous membership in the top football league of Spain, while Almería ended a four-year tenure in La Liga and Hércules made their immediate return to the second level.

The three relegated teams were replaced by three 2010–11 Segunda División sides. Champions Betis, who terminated their second-level status after two years, runners-up Rayo Vallecano, who returned to the top flight after eight seasons at lower levels, earned direct promotion.

The third promoted team was decided in the promotion play-offs where Granada returned to the league for the first time in 35 years, having spent 26 of them in Segunda División B and Tercera División.

Stadia and locations

Team Home city Stadium Capacity
Athletic Bilbao Bilbao San Mamés 39,750
Atlético Madrid Madrid Vicente Calderón 54,851
Barcelona Barcelona Camp Nou 99,354
Betis Sevilla Benito Villamarín 52,745
Espanyol Cornellà de Llobregat Estadi Cornellà-El Prat 40,500
Getafe Getafe Coliseum Alfonso Pérez 17,700
Granada Granada Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes 22,524
Levante Valencia Estadi Ciutat de València 25,534
Málaga Málaga La Rosaleda 28,963
Mallorca Palma de Mallorca Iberostar Estadio 23,142
Osasuna Pamplona Estadio Reyno de Navarra 19,553
Racing Santander Santander El Sardinero 22,271
Rayo Vallecano Madrid Estadio Teresa Rivero 15,500
Real Madrid Madrid Santiago Bernabéu 85,454
Real Sociedad San Sebastián Estadio Anoeta 32,076
Sevilla Sevilla Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán 45,500
Sporting de Gijón Gijón El Molinón 29,538
Valencia Valencia Mestalla 55,000
Villarreal Vila-real El Madrigal 25,000
Zaragoza Zaragoza La Romareda 34,596

La Liga clubs in Europe

In addition to their success in Primera División, Valencia, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid are four of the most successful teams in European competition history. All four clubs are the only Spanish clubs to have won 5 or more international trophies. All four clubs are also in the top ten most successful clubs in European football in terms of total European trophies.[5] In 2005–06, Barcelona won the UEFA Champions League and Sevilla won the UEFA Cup. The Primera División became the first league to do the European "double" since 1997.

The Primera División is currently second in the UEFA rankings of European leagues based on their performances in European competitions over a five-year period, behind the English Premier League in first and ahead of Germany's Bundesliga in third.[6]

Champions

Performance by club

Club Winners Runners-up Winning Seasons Last Runner-up Season
Real Madrid
31
20
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 2010–11
Barcelona
21
22
1929, 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 2006–07
Atlético Madrid
09
08
1939–40, 1940–41, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1995–96 1990–91
Athletic Bilbao
08
07
1929–30, 1930–31, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1942–43, 1955–56, 1982–83, 1983–84 1997–98
Valencia
06
06
1941–42, 1943–44, 1946–47, 1970–71, 2001–02, 2003–04 1995–96
Real Sociedad
02
03
1980–81, 1981–82 2002–03
Deportivo de La Coruña
01
05
1999–2000 2001–02
Sevilla
01
04
1945–46 1956–57
Real Betis
01
00
1934–35
Villarreal
00
01
2007–08
Sporting de Gijón
00
01
1978–79
Real Zaragoza
00
01
1974–75
Las Palmas
00
01
1968–69
Racing de Santander
00
01
1930–31

All-time La Liga table

The All-time La Liga table[7] 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 2010–11 season.[8]

Pos Team Seasons Points Played Won Drawn Lost G.F. G.A. 1 2 3 1st App Since/Last App Best
1 Real Madrid 80 3838 2534 1475 521 538 5285 2915 31 20 7 1929 1929 1
2 Barcelona 80 3709 2534 1407 529 598 5233 2925 21 22 12 1929 1929 1
3 Valencia 76 3044 2436 1092 559 785 4049 3173 6 6 9 1931–32 1987–88 1
4 Athletic Bilbao 80 3024 2534 1113 577 844 4319 3415 8 7 10 1929 1929 1
5 Atlético Madrid 74 2976 2386 1101 552 733 4139 3132 9 8 12 1929 2002–03 1
6 Espanyol 76 2512 2398 874 550 974 3343 3550 - - 4 1929 1994–95 3
7 Sevilla 67 2456 2180 887 477 816 3314 3076 1 4 4 1934–35 2001–02 1
8 Real Sociedad 64 2243 2074 775 514 785 2902 2922 2 3 2 1929 2010–11 1
9 Zaragoza 56 2032 1910 677 508 725 2610 2724 - 1 4 1939–40 2009–10 2
10 Real Betis 46 1673 1538 550 396 592 1945 2187 1 - 2 1932–33 2011–12 1
11 Deportivo La Coruña 41 1666 1378 532 337 509 1882 1941 1 5 4 1941–42 2010–11 1
12 Celta de Vigo 46 1547 1508 519 348 641 2041 2347 - - - 1939–40 2006–07 4
13 Real Valladolid 40 1392 1390 445 359 586 1680 2062 - - - 1948–49 2009–10 4
14 Racing de Santander 43 1389 1390 449 321 620 1815 2305 - 1 1 1929 2002–03 2
15 Sporting de Gijón 39 1282 1344 444 332 568 1629 1949 - 1 1 1944–45 2008–09 2
16 Osasuna 33 1197 1166 389 284 493 1351 1567 - - - 1935–36 2000–01 4
17 Real Oviedo 38 1174 1192 408 292 492 1642 1951 - - 3 1933–34 2000–01 3
18 Mallorca 25 1060 912 310 237 365 1097 1253 - - 2 1960–61 1997–98 3
19 Las Palmas 31 937 1020 345 225 450 1249 1619 - 1 1 1951–52 2001–02 2
20 Villarreal 12 679 456 187 118 151 645 587 - 1 1 1998–99 2000–01 2
21 CD Málaga 20 543 647 186 171 290 666 926 - - - 1949–50 1989–90 7
22 Hércules 20 538 628 184 149 295 716 1050 - - - 1935–36 2010–11 5
23 Elche 19 525 602 183 159 260 685 910 - - - 1959–60 1988–89 5
24 Tenerife 13 510 494 155 128 211 619 744 - - - 1961–62 2009–10 5
25 Málaga CF 10 467 380 121 104 155 480 550 - - - 1999–00 2008–09 8
26 Granada 17 448 514 162 124 228 610 777 - - - 1941–42 2011–12 6
27 Real Murcia 18 445 586 145 143 298 607 992 - - - 1940–41 2007–08 11
28 Rayo Vallecano 12 436 452 123 120 209 513 728 - - - 1977–78 2011–12 9
29 Salamanca 12 375 423 123 102 198 422 581 - - - 1974–75 1998–99 7
30 Alavés 11 366 342 111 68 163 417 585 - - - 1930–31 2005–06 6
31 Sabadell 14 353 426 129 95 202 492 720 - - - 1943–44 1987–88 4
32 Getafe 7 344 266 92 68 106 332 340 - - - 2004–05 2004–05 6
33 Cádiz 12 343 448 104 127 217 393 662 - - - 1977–78 2005–06 12
34 CD Logroñés 9 293 346 96 92 158 291 489 - - - 1987–88 1996–97 7
35 Castellón 11 285 334 103 79 152 419 588 - - - 1941–42 1990–91 4
36 Albacete 7 277 270 76 76 118 320 410 - - - 1991–92 2004–05 7
37 Córdoba 8 210 244 79 52 113 263 362 - - - 1962–63 1971–72 5
38 Levante 6 198 212 56 48 108 230 345 - - - 1963–64 2010–11 10
39 SD Compostela 4 190 160 52 45 63 199 241 - - - 1994–95 1997–98 10
40 Recreativo de Huelva 5 188 186 50 46 90 202 296 - - - 1978–79 2008–09 8
41 UD Almería 4 170 152 43 41 68 166 231 - - - 2007–08 2010–11 8
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 de Getxo 7 107 130 43 21 66 227 308 - - 1 1929 1934–35 3
46 Real Burgos 3 96 114 26 44 44 101 139 - - - 1990–91 1992–93 9
47 Gimnàstic de Tarragona 4 91 116 34 16 66 181 295 - - - 1947–48 2006–07 7
48 CF Extremadura 2 83 80 20 23 37 62 117 - - - 1996–97 1998–99 17
49 CP Mérida 2 81 80 19 24 37 70 115 - - - 1995–96 1997–98 19
50 Alcoyano 4 76 108 30 16 62 145 252 - - - 1945–46 1950–51 10
51 Real Jaén 3 71 90 29 13 48 121 183 - - - 1953–54 1957–58 14
52 Real Unión 4 56 72 21 14 37 153 184 - - - 1929 1931–32 6
53 AD Almería 2 52 68 17 18 33 71 116 - - - 1979–80 1980–81 10
54 Europa 3 42 54 18 6 30 97 131 - - - 1929 1930–31 8
55 UE Lleida 2 40 68 13 14 41 70 182 - - - 1950–51 1993–94 16
56 Xerez 1 34 38 8 10 20 38 66 - - - 2009–10 2009–10 20
57 CD Condal 1 22 30 7 8 15 37 57 - - - 1956–57 1956–57 16
58 Atlético Tetuán 1 19 30 7 5 18 51 85 - - - 1951–52 1951–52 16
59 Cultural Leonesa 1 14 30 5 4 21 34 65 - - - 1955–56 1955–56 15

League or status at 2011–12:

2011–12 La Liga
2011–12 Segunda División
2011–12 Segunda División B
2011–12 Tercera División
2011–12 Divisiones Regionales
To be determined
No longer affiliated with RFEF
Club disappeared

Players

Eligibility of non-EU players

In La Liga, players can claim citizenship from the nation their ancestors came from. If a player does not have European ancestry, he can claim Spanish citizenship after playing in Spain for 5 years. Sometimes, this can lead to a triple-citizenship situation e.g. Leo Franco, who is Argentine-born, of Italian heritage and can claim a Spanish passport, having played in La Liga for over 5 years.

In addition, players from the ACP countries—countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific that are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement—are not counted against non-EU quotas, due to the Kolpak ruling.

Individual awards

Until season 2008/2009 no official awards for la liga existed. Following the 2008/2009 season LFP the governing body instated the LFP Awards, apart from these awards, many individual awards are conceded relating to La Liga, although not sanctioned by the LFP nor the RFEF and therefore not regarded as official.

The most notable of these are four awarded by Spain's biggest sports paper, Marca, namely the Pichichi Trophy, awarded to the top scorer of the season, the Ricardo Zamora Trophy for the goalkeeper with the least "goals-to-games" ratio, the Trofeo Alfredo di Stéfano, for the player judged to be the best overall player in the division, and the Zarra Trophy is awarded to the Spanish domestic player with the highest goal total in La Liga.

All-time top scorers

Rank Nat Name Years Goals Apps Ratio
1 Telmo Zarra 1940–1955 251 277 0.90
2 Hugo Sánchez 1981–1994 234 347 0.67
3 Raúl 1994–2010 228 550 0.41
4 Alfredo di Stéfano 1953–1966 227 329 0.69
5 César Rodríguez 1939–1955 226 353 0.64
6 Quini 1970–1987 219 448 0.49
7 Pahiño 1943–1956 210 278 0.76
8 Edmundo Suárez 1939–1950 195 231 0.81
9 Carlos Santillana 1970–1988 186 461 0.40
10 Juan Arza 1943–1959 182 349 0.52
11 Guillermo Gorostiza 1929–1945 178 256 0.70
12 David Villa 2003– ¤ 163 287 0.57
13 Samuel Eto'o 1998–2009 162 280 0.58
14 Luis Aragonés 1960–1974 160 360 0.44
15 Ferenc Puskás 1958–1966 156 180 0.87
16 Julio Salinas 1982–2000 152 417 0.36
17 Adrián Escudero 1945–1958 150 287 0.52
18 Daniel Ruiz 1974–1986 147 303 0.49
19 Silvestre Igoa 1941–1956 141 284 0.50
20 Manuel Badenes 1946–1959 139 201 0.69

(Bold denotes players still playing in La Liga)

European Footballers of the Year

The following were all elected winners of the Golden Ball while playing in La Liga:

See also

Notes and references

External links