Spanish La Liga Winners

A total of 58 teams have competed in the ‘Primera Division’ since 1929 but only nine clubs have emerged as Spanish La Liga winners.

Since the mid-1940’s, the ‘big two’, Real Madrid and Barcelona sustained their attack on the championship, winning more titles than any other team but in the past two decades the nation has witnessed the resurgence of a number of clubs including Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia, Sevilla, Deportivo La Coruna, Real Sociedad and Real Betis.

FC Barcelona stamped their authority on the La Liga early on, clocking up the first league win in 1929 but within a year, Athletic Bilbao had made their intentions clear and went on to claim the title in 1930, 31, 34 and 36, coming in a close second in 1932 & 33.

The early 1940’s were controlled by Valencia who became Spanish La Liga winners a trio of times and runners-up twice. It was at this stage FC Barcelona and Real Madrid emerged as dynamos and pundits believe it had a lot to do with the ‘big two’ selecting ‘naturalised’ foreigners as club members. Alfredo di Stefano of Argentina and Ferenc Puskas of Hungary, for instance, both played for Real Madrid and both feature on the all-time top scorers standings with 227 and 155 goals respectively. The Argentine went on to impress at the highest level, claiming the European Footballer of the Year award in 1957 and 1959!

Between 1961 and 1980 Real Madrid were crowned La Liga winners 14 times including five consecutive wins from 1961-1965. At this stage another Madrid-based club, Atletico Madrid became the main protagonist, winning four La Liga titles.
However, notwithstanding the fact that a number of other clubs have managed to log up the majority of a points in a season, the ‘big two’ remain the teams to beat. Below is a list of winners, runners-up and third placed teams of the past decade.