 | |
| Organising body | Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1929 |
| Country | Spain |
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Number of teams | 20 (since 1997–98) |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| 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 | Real Madrid (36th title) (2023–24) |
| Most championships | Real Madrid (36 titles) |
| Most appearances | Andoni Zubizarreta Joaquín (622 each) |
| Top goalscorer | Lionel Messi (474)[1] |
| TV partners | List of broadcasters |
| Sponsor(s) | EA Sports |
| Website | laliga.com |
| Current: 2024–25 La Liga | |
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División,[a] commonly known as the Primera División[b] or La Liga[c][2] and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports[d][3] since 2023 for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional football division of the Spanish football league system. It is controlled by the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional and it is contested by 20 teams over a 38-matchday period.
Since its inception, 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 36 times. Real Madrid are also the most recent winners, having won the 2023–24 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.[4] During the 1980s and 1990s Real Madrid were prominent in La Liga, but the Basque clubs of Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad had their share of success, each winning two Liga titles. From the 1990s onward, Barcelona has dominated La Liga, winning seventeen titles to date.[5] Although Real Madrid has also 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 was the top league in Europe in each of the seven years from 2013 to 2019 (calculated using accumulated figures from five preceding seasons) and led Europe for 22 of the 60 ranked years up to 2019, more than any other country. It also has 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 (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.[6] 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.[7][8] 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.[9]
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.
- ^ "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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