La Liga

La Liga

Founded	1929
Country	Spain
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	20
Level 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	Canal+, GolT, laSexta
Website	www.lfp.es facebook.com/lfpoficial
Current: 2011–12 season

The Primera División (First Division) of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (LFP), commonly known outside Spain 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 20 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. Real Madrid have won the title a record 31 times while Barcelona have won it on 21 occasions. During the 1930s and 1940s and in the last two decades, however, La Liga has seen other champions, including Atlético Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia, Real Sociedad, Deportivo, Real Betis, and Sevilla. Barcelona have won the last three seasons of La Liga.

La Liga is currently the second strongest league in Europe after the English Premier League, 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.

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:

• If all clubs involved have played each other twice:
  • If the tie is between two clubs, then the tie is broken using the head-to-head goal difference (without away goals rule)
  • If the tie is between more than two clubs, then the tie is broken, using the games the clubs have played against each other:
    • a) head-to-head points
    • b) head-to-head goal difference
    • c) head-to-head goals scored
• If two legged games between all clubs involved have not been played, or the tie is not broken by the rules above, it is broken using:
  • a) total goal difference
  • b) total goals scored
• If the tie is still not broken, the winner will be determined by Fair Play scales. These are:
  • yellow card, 1 point
  • doubled yellow card/ejection, 2 points
  • direct red card, 3 points
  • Suspension or disqualification to coach, executive or other club's personnel (outside referee decisions), 5 points
  • Misconduct of the supporters: mild 5 points, serious 6 points, very serious 7 points
  • Stadium closure, 10 points
  • If the Competition Committee removes a penalty, the points are also removed
• If the tie is still not broken, it will be resolved with a tie-break match in a neutral stadium.

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 promoted to La Liga, with an additional club promoted after a series of play-offs involving the third, fourth, fifth and sixth placed clubs.

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 playoff. The fifth and sixth placed teams qualify for the first round of the UEFA Europa League.

History

Foundation

In April 1927, José María 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 de 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 Barcelona emerged as champions. Seventy years later, on 28 September 2007, Barcelona requested the RFEF to recognise that title as a Liga title. This action was taken after RFEF was asked to recognise 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 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 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, won 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.

The 2000s

As Primera División entered a new century, the Big Two of Real Madrid and Barcelona 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. Under Josep Guardiola's Dream Team, powered by La Masia talents such as Lionel Messi, Xavi, and Andrés Iniesta, Barcelona added three straight Liga titles (2008–09, 2009–10, and 2010–11).

Teams

Deportivo La Coruña, Hércules from Alicante, and 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 20 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 Real 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

Athletic

At. Madrid

Barcelona

Betis

Espanyol

Getafe

Granada

Levante

Málaga

Mallorca

Osasuna

Rayo Vallecano

Real Sociedad

Sporting  

Racing

Real Madrid

Sevilla

Valencia

Villarreal

Real Zaragoza

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Location of (qualified) teams in La Liga 2011–12

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
Real Zaragoza	Zaragoza	La Romareda	34,596

La Liga clubs in Europe

Main article: La Liga clubs in Europe

In addition to their success in Primera División, Valencia, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid are four of the most successful teams in European competition history. All four clubs are the only Spanish clubs to have won five 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. 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.

Champions

Main article: List of Spanish football 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 La Coruña	01	05	1999–2000	2001–02
Sevilla	01	04	1945–46	1956–57
Real Betis	01	00	1934–35

All-time La Liga table

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 2010–11 season.

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	Real Zaragoza	56	2032	1910	677	508	725	2610	2724	-	1	4	1939–40	2009–10	2
10	Real Betis	47	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	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 five years. Sometimes, this can lead to a triple-citizenship situation; for example, Leo Franco, who is Argentine-born, of Italian heritage, and can claim a Spanish passport, having played in La Liga for over five 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 2008–09, no official awards for La Liga existed. Following the 2008–09 season, the Liga de Fútbol Profesional, 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 Royal Spanish Football Federation 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	252	278	0.91
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	223	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		Samuel Eto'o	1998–2009	162	280	0.58
13		David Villa	2003– ¤	161	288	0.56
14		Lionel Messi	2004– ¤	160	209	0.77
15		Luis Aragonés	1960–1974	160	360	0.44
16		Ferenc Puskás	1958–1966	156	180	0.87
17		Julio Salinas	1982–2000	152	417	0.36
18		Adrián Escudero	1945–1958	150	287	0.52
19		Daniel Ruiz	1974–1986	147	303	0.49
20		Raúl Tamudo	1996–¤	144	396	0.36
21		Silvestre Igoa	1941–1956	141	284	0.50
22		Manuel Badenes	1946–1959	139	201	0.69
23		Juan Araujo Pino	1945–1956	139	207	0.67
24		José Mari Bakero	1945–1956	139	483	0.29
25		László Kubala	1951–1964	138	215	0.64
26		José Luis Panizo	1939–1955	136	325	0.42
27		Satrústegui	1973–1986	133	297	0.45
28		Ismael Urzaiz	1991–2007	132	445	0.30
29		Diego Forlán	2004–2011	128	240	0.53
30		Francisco Gento	1946–1959	128	438	0.29
31		Francisco Campos	1939–1953	127	205	0.62
32		Eneko Arieta	1951–1966	127	242	0.52
33		Mario Kempes	1977–1986	126	222	0.57
34		Fernando Morientes	1993–2009	124	336	0.37
35		Emilio Butragueño	1984–1995	123	341	0.36
36		Pirri	1964–1980	123	417	0.29
37		Agustín Gaínza	1940–1959	120	381	0.31
38		Amancio	1962–1976	119	344	0.35
39		Ronaldo	1996–2007	117	164	0.71
40		Marañón	1970–1983	116	309	0.38
41		Waldo	1961–1969	115	216	0.53
42		Davor Šuker	1991–1999	114	239	0.48
43		Pedro Uralde	1979–1992	112	313	0.36
44		Carlos	1984–1996	111	314	0.35
45		José Ángel Ziganda	1987–2001	111	381	0.29

(Bold denotes players still playing in La Liga.)

European Footballers of the Year

• Alfredo Di Stéfano - 1957, 1959 (Real Madrid)
• Raymond Kopa - 1958 (Real Madrid)
• Luis Suárez - 1960 (Barcelona)
• Johan Cruyff - 1973, 1974 (Barcelona)
• Hristo Stoichkov - 1994 (Barcelona)
• Ronaldo - 1996, 1997 (Barcelona)
• Rivaldo - 1999 (Barcelona)
• Luís Figo - 2000 (Real Madrid)
• Ronaldo - 2002 (Real Madrid)
• Ronaldinho - 2005 (Barcelona)
• Fabio Cannavaro - 2006 (Real Madrid)
• Lionel Messi - 2009, 2010, 2011 (Barcelona)
• C.Ronaldo - 2012 (Real Madrid)

See also

• Football records in Spain
• List of attendance figures at domestic professional sports leagues
• List of football clubs in Spain
• List of foreign La Liga players
• Supercopa de España

External links

• Template:Es icon Official La Liga Site
• Template:Es icon Official RFEF Site
• La Liga on Facebook
• La Liga on Twitter
• Template:En icon La Liga and Spanish football in English
• Template:Es icon Liga24 - España - Resultados en vivo, Clasificacion de liga en vivo
• Template:Es icon live results and real time tables
• Template:Tr icon La Liga Turkey Site
• Results and Tables
• La Liga Results and News at Yahoo! Eurosport UK
• Historical Database
• Primera Liga : presentation — All time table and all results since 1928 with links to entire results and winners, second and third.
• Map of La Liga Stadiums
• Template:En icon La-Liga.eu - A Web site aggregating videos, news, wikipedia data and tweets about the 1st Spanish football division players and teams