Primera División (Spain)

Full Name: Liga de Fútbol Profesional Primera División
Founded: 1928
Tier: 1
Number of Teams: 20

The top tier of Spanish football is officially known as the Liga BBVA for its title sponsor BBVA, a Spanish banking firm. It's also called Liga de Fútbol Profesional Primera División - Professional Football League Premier Division or more often simply La Liga - The League. The Liga de Fútbol Profesional (LFP) is an umbrella group that administers the top two tiers of Spanish football, the Primera and the Segunda. La Liga contains two of the most successful clubs in world football - Real Madrid and Barcelona and is likely the second most popular league in the world after the English Premier League.

The Spanish Primera División got its start in the 1928-29 season with 10 teams - two from Madrid, three from Barcelona, five from the northern regions of Cantabria and the Basque country. The first title was won by Barcelona, who overtook Real Madrid on the final day of the season. The league broke apart for several years during the 1930s, one of so many victims of the Spanish Civil War. The league was restarted in 1939 with the bitterness of the Civil War finding new life in Spanish football stadiums and matches are played out to this day to the backdrop of complex historical overtones.

Spanish Primera División Map:

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League Format:

The Spanish Primera División season begins in late August or early September and ends in May or early June with a very short winter break.
The 20 teams play each other twice (home and away) for a total of 38 matches.
3 points are awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss.
Final league position is based on the total number of points earned over the full season.
The team with the most points is considered the league champion.
The bottom three teams are relegated to the second-tier Segunda División.