At present Spanish La Liga remains at the top of the European club championships mainly thanks to two clubs: FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. This can be confirmed by football todays matches, and statistics from official sources and bookmakers, who always provide the highest odds for the victory of these clubs.
In the 21st century, the Spanish football league is showing truly amazing results. Clubs from this country have no matches in the European football arena. They have won 18 continental cups over the last 18 years:
- UEFA Champions League 9 times;
- European League 9 times.
However, the rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona was the hottest topic. When Florentino Perez became president of Real Madrid, he promised to attract the best players in the world to this club. That’s what happened. Players such as Ronaldo, Beckham, Zidane and Figo came to the Santiago Bernabéu. The transfer of the latter one has particularly heated relations between the two clubs. It was so because Luis Figo was the captain of FC Barcelona before joining the club from the capital city. During the first El Clásico when he played for his new club at Camp Nou, a pig’s head flew from the stands towards a Portuguese player taking a corner kick. This was a symbol of unforgiven betrayal.
The current level of FC Barcelona is largely due to Cruyff. It was he who brought total football to its game, which was later developed by Pep Guardiola. Bringing in a Dutchman was an extremely important decision. Under Cruyff’s leadership FC Barcelona won its first European Cup in 1992. In addition, he helped the club win 10 more trophies, including 4 Spanish championships. During his work, he coached the aforementioned Pep Guardiola – the future coach of Barcelona, who won as many as 14 cups with this club.
Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid in 2009. This club paid a cost record of €96 million for the Portuguese winger. Thus, a great new rivalry was started in Spanish football – Leo Messi, the prodigy of Barca, against Cristiano Ronaldo – the new goal-scoring machine in Madrid. For the next 9 years, La Liga had two of the best players in the world who completely dominated the Ballon d’Or. “El Clásico” also became the most exciting league game in the world. This rivalry has become a permanent record in football matches today.
Scheduling of qualifying matches
Modern La Liga fixtures consist of 38 games. It’s and other data on La Liga can be viewed on the football statistics website. All teams play each other twice, the two teams with the lowest points are relegated to the first football league of Spain. The only clubs that have never relegated to a lower division are FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. Real Madrid has won the most championships in Spain. The capital city club has won the championship 33 times. Over the past ten years, FC Barcelona has come close to its biggest rival in this regard. You can get acquainted with La Liga fixture on football statistics sites.