La Liga is the highest division of professional football championships in Spain. The championship consists of 20 teams that play each other twice in the 2 weeks of the season.
The teams that finish the season in the first 4 places qualify for the UEFA Champions League. Fifth and sixth place qualify for the UEFA Europa League. While at the bottom of the ranking, the 3 teams of last, are relegated to the Segunda Division.
Since 1929, when the first Spanish championship was held, only 9 teams have managed to be declared champions. Real Madrid leads convincingly with 34 titles, followed by Barcelona with 26. Next come the rest of the La Liga winners: Atletico Madrid with 10 titles, Bilbao with 8, Valencia with 6, Sociedad with 2 and Deportivo La Coruna, Sevilla and Betis with 1 each.
During the last decade Real Madrid has had more success in the European arena, but in La Liga the team that has significantly dominated has been Barcelona. In the last 10 championships, the Catalans have won 6. The rest have been won by Real Madrid (3) and Atletico Madrid (1). Last season it was Los Blancos who took advantage of Barcelona's late-game mistakes and won the 34th title in their history.
The best scorer in the history of La Liga is Lionel Messi with 455 goals. Right after him is Cristiano Ronaldo with 311 goals. As for the matches played, the record is held by Andoni Zubizarreta with 622.
