Saturday, January 11, 2014

Spanish BBVA Liga

The Spanish Premiere League is known as La Liga and is also sponsored by the biggest bank in the country, BBVA. It is one of the four biggest leagues in Europe, and draws some of the highest attendances in the world. The format is very similar to the English Premiere league in that the top 20 teams in the country are promoted into this top tier level. The regular season consists of each team playing each other twice and the champion being the team with the most wins. 


The league was founded in 1929, and has grown to become one of the highest quality of leagues based on the UEFA coefficient rankings. While Barcelona and Real Madrid have dominated the league since it's inception other strong teams have also competed such as; Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia, Real Sociedad, Deportivo, Real Bettis, and Sevilla.

Barcelona FC

I thought it'd be fitting to try and better understand this Spanish professional league since Barcelona is one of my favorite clubs as a kid. This was because my mom had Spanish friends who would send us all sorts of Barca memorabilia (scarfs, jerseys, tshirts, posters, etc).

As a kid growing up in the states, I hardly understood the format of European soccer and instead payed more attention to the NFL. I've always loved the sport of soccer though, and over the past couple years I have come to better understand these top quality European leagues. I continue to enjoy and support Barcelona FC for their winning tradition and their loyal creed "Mas Que un Club". 
Team Home city Stadium Stadium capacity
Athletic Bilbao Bilbao San Mamés 53,332
Atlético Madrid Madrid Vicente Calderón 54,960
FC Barcelona Barcelona Camp Nou 99,786
Real Betis Seville Benito Villamarín 52,745
Celta de Vigo Vigo Balaídos 31,800
UD Almería Almeria Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos 22,000
RCD Espanyol Barcelona Cornellà-El Prat 40,500
Getafe CF Getafe Coliseum Alfonso Pérez 17,700
Granada CF Granada Nuevo Los Cármenes 22,524
Levante UD Valencia Ciutat de València 25,534
Málaga CF Málaga La Rosaleda 30,044
Elche CF Elche Martínez Valero 38,75
CA Osasuna Pamplona El Sadar 19,553
Rayo Vallecano Madrid Campo de Vallecas 15,489
Real Madrid C.F. Madrid Santiago Bernabéu 85,454
Real Sociedad San Sebastián Anoeta 32,076
Sevilla FC Seville Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán 45,500
Valencia CF Valencia Mestalla 55,000
Real Valladolid Valladolid Nuevo José Zorrilla 26,512
Villarreal CF Villarreal El Madrigal 24,890





History of Club Championships

Club Winners Runners-up Winning Seasons
Real Madrid
32
21
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, 2011–12
Barcelona
22
23
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, 2012–13
Atlético Madrid
9
8
1939–40, 1940–41, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1995–96
Athletic Bilbao
8
7
1929–30, 1930–31, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1942–43, 1955–56, 1982–83, 1983–84
Valencia
6
6
1941–42, 1943–44, 1946–47, 1970–71, 2001–02, 2003–04
Real Sociedad
2
3
1980–81, 1981–82
Deportivo La Coruña
1
5
1999–00
Sevilla
1
4
1945–46
Betis
1
0
1934–35


El Classico

Since the inception of La Liga, there have been two dominant clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid. These two teams have established one of the greatest rivalries in sports known as "El Classio". Both their stadiums Camp Nou and Santiago Bernabeu are at full capacity when they play one another. 

These clubs have one of the richest/most successful heritage in Spain as well as the the world of futbol. It's quite fitting that the two best players in the world Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi face off against each other in this classic rivalry.


Best Players to Watch
  1. Cristiano Ronaldo   Real Madrid (2009-present) Portugal (2003-present) Age 28
  2. Lionel Messi           Barcelona (2004-present)   Argentina (2005-present) Age 26
  3. Gareth Bale            Real Madrid (2013-present) Wales (2006-present) Age 24
  4. Sergio Ramos        Real Madrid (2005-present) Spain (2005-present) Age 27
  5. Andres Iniesta       Barcelona (2002-present) Spain (2006-present) Age 29
  6. Neymar                 Barcelona (2013-present) Brazil (2010-present) Age 21
  7. Xavi Hernandez    Barcelona (1998-present) Spain (2000-present) Age 34
  8. Gerard Pique        Barcelona (2008-present) Spain (2009-present) Age 26
  9. David Villa         Atletico Madrid (2013-present) Spain (2005-present) Age 32
  10. Cesc Fabregas      Barcelona (2011-present) Spain (2006-present) Age 26



Rank Nat Name Years Goals Apps Ratio
1 Spain Telmo Zarra 1940–1955 251 277 0.91
2 Mexico Spain Hugo Sánchez 1981–1994 234 347 0.67
3 Spain Raúl 1994–2010 228 550 0.41
4 ArgentinaSpain Alfredo di Stéfano 1953–1966 227 329 0.69
5 Argentina Lionel Messi 2004– 223 259 0.86
6 Spain César Rodríguez 1939–1955 223 353 0.63
7 Spain Quini 1970–1987 219 448 0.49
8 Spain Pahiño 1943–1956 210 278 0.76
9 Spain Edmundo Suárez 1939–1950 195 231 0.84
10 Spain Carlos Santillana 1970–1988 186 461 0.40

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