Spanish La Liga Betting Guide
Since 1928, 62 teams have competed in the Spanish football competition, but only 9 have won the championship.
Real Madrid and Barcelona have stood out above the rest over the years, being the most successful teams and still are today, always at the top of all the pools to win the league title.
Follow us in this review of the most curious history of the Spanish Football League league and the highlights of today to make your football bets in this season 2022-2023 that has just started.
What is La Liga?
La Liga is the main football competition at the club level in Spain and the top tier of the league system. Together with the second division, they are the only ones considered professional, and both are organised by the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (LFP). However, until 1984 it was organised by the Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF).
As for the competition system, the 20 participating teams form a single group in which all teams play against each other in two rounds, one playing at home and the other away, for a total of 38 rounds. The ranking is organised on a points system: three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. If there is a tie on points after the competition, the total number of goals scored and the difference between goals scored and conceded are considered.
Currently, La Liga is considered one of the best in the world. It is the second national championship with the most international titles and the first at the European level, as 9 of its clubs have 82 international titles: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, Zaragoza, Málaga, Villarreal and Celta de Vigo.
When did La Liga start?
La Liga began in the 1928-1929 season and was only interrupted during the Civil War between 1936 and 1939. It had ten teams that participated in the beginning: Arenas Club, Athletic Club, Real Sociedad de Fútbol, Real Unión, Fútbol Club Barcelona, Real Club Deportivo Espanyol, Club Deportivo Europa, Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, Club Atlético de Madrid and Racing de Santander. Gradually, it increased to a total of 20 today.
In the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons alone, the number of clubs playing in the competition was 22. There have been a total of 62 different teams in the history of La Liga, and only three of them, Athletic Club, Real Madrid and F.C. Barcelona have always remained in the top flight.
💡Did you know what? The shirt numbers were introduced in the 1947-1948 season by Real Madrid in a match against Atlético de Madrid at the old Metropolitano stadium, something they had copied from the English League which had adopted the custom sometime before. The rest of the teams in the Spanish League gradually joined in this custom.
Who won the 2021-2022 league?
Last season was the 91st edition of the Spanish top division.
The champions for the 2021-2022 season were Real Madrid, who won their 35th title, and Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid and Sevilla, who completed the list of teams who qualified for the Champions League group stage.
Betis and Real Sociedad were fifth and sixth, which gave them access to the Europa League group stage, and seventh-placed Villarreal qualified for the Conference League play-offs.
Real Madrid led the standings for all but six games of the season and finished with 86 points after winning 26 games, drawing eight and losing just four.
In addition, Karim Benzema finished as the top scorer with 27 goals, although Sevilla goalkeeper Bono won the Zamora trophy for the least-scored goalkeeper.
Which Team has won the most titles in La Liga?
Only nine of the 62 teams that have played in La Liga throughout history have won the title. Real Madrid and Barcelona share most of these, with Real Madrid being the most successful Team with a total of 35. Los Azulgranas have 26, followed by Atlético de Madrid with 11, Athletic Club with 8, Valencia with 6, Real Sociedad 2 and R.C.D. La Coruña, Sevilla and Betis with one title each.
Top scorers in La Liga
The list of all-time top scorers in La Liga is headed by Lionel Messi, who scored 474 goals in 520 games while playing for FC Barcelona.
He is followed by Cristiano Ronaldo, with 311 goals in 292 games as a Real Madrid player, being the player with the best statistics with an average of 1.07 goals per game.
Third place goes to the first Spanish player, Telmo Zarra, who also gives his name to the title awarded at the end of the season to the Spanish player with the most goals.
The Basque player scored 251 goals in the Athletic Club shirt. Hugo Sánchez is in fourth place in the ranking and is the first to score his goals for three teams: Atlético de Madrid, Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano.
League Player of the Year 21
In the most recent 2021-2022 season, La Liga organised the Team of the Season awards for the first time in collaboration with EA SPORTS.
Awards go to the best goalkeeper, the four best defenders, the three best midfielders, the three best strikers, and the next four best-rated players to round out the list of 15 players.
The winners were: Courtois; Militão, Araújo, Alaba, Koundé; Modrić, Pedri, Fekir; Benzema, Vinicius, João Félix; Acuña, Canales, Raúl de Tomás and Iker Muniain.
As for the awards that are presented each year, the top scorer, as mentioned above, was Karim Benzema; the least goalkeeper, Bono; the Zarra trophy went to Iago Aspas and Raúl de Tomás, and the best assisting player in La Liga was Ousmane Dembélé.
La Liga 2022 highlights
This season will undoubtedly be marked by the World Cup break in Qatar between 20 November and 18 December. From 14 November, the national teams will be able to concentrate, so that will be the first date to be taken into account as a break in the competition. After that, it will resume on 21 December, and it should be noted that this year, we will have football on New Year's Eve: it will only stop from 24 to 28 December and on 1 and 2 January.
As for the matches to watch out for, the first leg of the clásico will be played at the Bernabéu on 16 October, and the second leg at the Camp Nou on 19 March. As for other derbies, the capital derby will be the first, with the first leg on 18 September at the Metropolitano and the second on 26 February at the Bernabéu.
The Seville derby will have the first leg at the Villamarín on 6 November and the return at the Pizjuán on 21 May. And the Basque derby will not be played until 2023, with the first leg on 14 January at Anoeta and the return on 16 April at San Mamés.
💡Did you know what? Betis player Joaquín Sánchez, at 41 years of age, is still active as the longest-serving outfield player to play in the competition and the second longest-serving player to play in the competition only to Zubizarreta.
Which La Liga teams do you recommend betting on?
We recommend always studying all the teams well before deciding to bet on them. Every year, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the favourites for the title. However, you should always keep an eye on Cholo Simeone's Atlético Madrid, the only Team capable of snatching the title from the big two in the last almost 20 years since Valencia won the title twice in the early 2000s. Keep an eye on Sevilla and Betis, who finished fourth and fifth, and Villarreal and Real Sociedad, whose prospects are strengthening.
La Liga: betting odds, predictions and forecasts
As mentioned above, La Liga odds have Real Madrid and Barcelona as favourites, with Atletico Madrid third. The odds to win are 1.92 for Real Madrid and 2.06 for Barcelona, while Atletico Madrid's odds are already at 15.00.
Other teams to watch out for could be Villarreal and Betis, but the gap is considerable, and anything less than the top three taking the title would be a surprise. The odds for Villarreal to win the League are 41.00 and Betis at 67.00. Of course, if you choose the other one and win, the benefits will be considerable!
On LeoVegas Sportsbook, you also have the option to bet on which Team will be relegated.
If we look at the odds, the teams that would be relegated are Cádiz, Elche and Valladolid. The Andalusian Team's relegation is at 1.67, Elche's at 1.75 and Valladolid's relegation is at 2.00.