La Liga
| Organising body | Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1929 |
| Country | Spain |
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Number of clubs | 20 (since 1997–98) |
| Level on pyramid | 1st |
| Relegation to | Segunda División |
| Domestic cup(s) | Copa del Rey Supercopa de España |
| International cup(s) | UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Conference League |
| Current champions | Barcelona (28th title) (2024–25) |
| Most championships | Real Madrid (36 titles) |
| Most appearances | Andoni Zubizarreta Joaquín (622 each) |
| Top goalscorer | Lionel Messi (474)[1] |
| Broadcaster(s) | List of broadcasters |
| Sponsor(s) | EA Sports |
| Website | laliga.com |
| Current: 2025–26 La Liga | |
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División,[a] commonly known as the Primera División[b] or LaLiga,[c][2] and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports[d][3] 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 contested by 20 teams over a 38-matchday period.
Since its inception, 62 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.[4] 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,[5] 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.[6] 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)[e] and UEFA Men's Player of the Year awards (12).[f]
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.[7] 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.[8][9] 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.[10]
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.
- ^ Lama, John; Lama, Chhewang (2022). "Goal analysis of Lionel Messi's 474 goals in LaLiga". International Journal of Health Sciences: 3583–3589. doi:10.53730/ijhs.v6nS1.5504.
- ^ "Legal Notice and Conditions of Use". LaLiga. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ^ "LALIGA launches a new era, presenting a new strategic positioning and international branding". Global Fútbol. Archived from the original on 11 July 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ Lara, Lorenzo; Harrison, Adapted by Simon (22 May 2017). "The Real Madrid domination of the 1960s and 70s". MARCA in English. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ "8th Liga in 11 years". www.fcbarcelona.com. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ "Member associations - UEFA rankings - Country coefficients". UEFA. July 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
- ^ "Attendances in India, China and the USA catching up with the major European leagues". World Soccer. 13 January 2016. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
- ^ "European football statistics". 2008. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
- ^ "Europe's big five leagues warned about dominance". BBC. 10 September 2019. Archived from the original on 12 September 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- ^ "Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance 2022" (PDF). Deloitte. August 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
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