What is La Liga?
La Liga is the top division of Spanish men’s football: 20 clubs playing a double round-robin for the national title and for Spain’s places in UEFA’s club competitions. Its organiser is LALIGA, the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (LNFP), a body of the professional clubs that sits under the Real Federación Española de Fútbol; the competition carries the commercial name LALIGA EA SPORTS after its title sponsor, and the second tier is branded LALIGA HYPERMOTION.[1]
How does it work?
Thirty-eight matchdays, no playoffs: the club with most points is champion and enters the UEFA Champions League league phase. The bottom three drop to the second tier, replaced by that tier’s top two plus the winner of a playoff among third to sixth. For 2026–27 Racing Santander, Deportivo La Coruña and Málaga came up and Real Oviedo, Girona and Mallorca went down; Spain also held five Champions League places that season, one of them a European Performance Spot earned on the strength of its clubs’ 2025–26 coefficient average of 22.093.[1] [2] [4]
Since when does it exist?
The first season was played in 1929 — the Copa del Rey, dating from 1903, is the older Spanish competition. Real Madrid hold the record with 36 titles and Barcelona have 29; the two have shared every championship since 2016–17 except Atlético Madrid’s in 2020–21, and Barcelona’s 2025–26 title was clinched on 10 May 2026 with a 2–0 win over Real Madrid.[3] [6]
| Season | Pool / Format | Host cities |
|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | Barcelona | 94 points, 8 clear of Real Madrid — clinched 10 May 2026 with a 2–0 win over Real Madrid |
| 2024–25 | Barcelona | 88 points; runner-up Real Madrid (84) |
| 2023–24 | Real Madrid | 95 points; runner-up Barcelona (85) |
| 2022–23 | Barcelona | 88 points; runner-up Real Madrid (78) |
| 2021–22 | Real Madrid | 86 points; runner-up Barcelona (73) |
| 2020–21 | Atlético Madrid | 86 points; runner-up Real Madrid (84) |
| 2019–20 | Real Madrid | 87 points; runner-up Barcelona (82) |
| 2018–19 | Barcelona | 87 points; runner-up Atlético Madrid (76) |
| 2017–18 | Barcelona | 93 points; runner-up Atlético Madrid (79) |
| 2016–17 | Real Madrid | 93 points; runner-up Barcelona (90) |
Champions of the last ten seasons.
Why does it matter?
La Liga is one of Europe’s “big five” domestic leagues, and that status is written into other countries’ rules: the English FA’s Governing Body Endorsement criteria place it in Band 1 with the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1, the band that earns a player the most points toward a work permit. UEFA’s access list rewards it in the same way — England and Spain were the two associations to earn extra Champions League places for 2026–27.[2] [5]
References
- LALIGA — LALIGA EA SPORTS competition page. Accessed September 2026.
- UEFA — 2026/27 UEFA Champions League: England and Spain secure European Performance Spots. Accessed September 2026.
- Wikipedia — List of Spanish football champions (background). Accessed September 2026.
- Wikipedia — 2026–27 La Liga (background). Accessed September 2026.
- The FA — Men's Players Governing Body Endorsement criteria 2025/26 (PDF). Accessed September 2026.
- Wikipedia — 2025–26 La Liga (background). Accessed September 2026.