In April 1927, José María Acha, a director at Arenas Club de Getxo, first proposed the idea of
a national league in Spain. After much debate
about the size of the league and who would take part, the Real Federación Española de Fútbol eventually agreed on the ten teams who would
form the first Primera División in 1929. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Arenas Club de Getxo and Real Unión were all selected as
previous winners of the Copa del Rey. Atlético Madrid, Espanyol and Europa qualified as Copa del Rey runners-up and Racing de Santanderqualified through a knockout
competition. Only three of the founding clubs, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and
Athletic Bilbao, have never been relegated from the Primera División.
The 1930s
Although Barcelona won the very first Liga in 1929 and Real Madrid won their first titles in 1932 and 1933, it was Athletic Bilbao that set the early pace winning Primera División in 1930, 1931,1934 and 1936. They were also runners-up in 1932 and 1933. In 1935, Real Betis, then known as Betis Balompié, won their only title to date. Primera División was suspended during the Spanish Civil War.
In 1937, the teams in the Republican area of Spain, with the
notable exception of the two Madrid clubs, competed in the Mediterranean League and Barcelona emerged as champions. Seventy
years later, on 28 September 2007, Barcelona requested the RFEF to recognise that title as a Liga title. This action was
taken after RFEF was asked to recognise Levante FC's Copa de la España Libre win as equivalent to Copa del Rey trophy.
The 1940s
When the Primera División resumed after the Spanish Civil War, it was Atlético Aviación (nowadays Atlético Madrid), Valencia, and Sevilla that initially emerged as the strongest clubs.
Atlético were only awarded a place during the 1939–40 season as a replacement
for Real Oviedo, whose ground had been damaged
during the war. The club subsequently won their first Liga title and retained
it in 1941. While other clubs lost players to exile,
execution, and as casualties of the war, the Atlético team was reinforced by a
merger. The young, pre-war squad of Valencia had also remained intact and in
the post-war years matured into champions, gaining three Liga titles in 1942, 1944, and 1947. They were also
runners-up in 1948 and 1949. Sevilla also enjoyed a brief golden era, finishing as
runners-up in 1940 and 1942 before winning their
only title to date in 1946. By the latter part
of the decade, Barcelona began to emerge as a force when they were
crowned champions in 1945, 1948 and 1949.
Di Stéfano, Puskás, Kubala and Suárez
Although Atlético Madrid,
previously known as Atlético Aviación, were
champions in 1950 and 1951 under catenaccio mastermind Helenio Herrera, the 1950s saw the beginning of
theBarcelona/Real Madrid dominance. During the
1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, there were strict limits imposed on foreign players.
In most cases, clubs could only have three foreign players in their squads,
meaning that at least eight local players had to play in every game. During the
1950s, however, these rules were circumvented by Real Madrid and Barcelona, who
naturalized Alfredo di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás, and Ladislav Kubala. Inspired by Kubala, Barça won the title in 1952
and 1953. Di Stéfano, Puskás, and Francisco Gento formed the nucleus of
the Real Madrid team that dominated the second half of the 1950s. Madrid won
the first division for the first time as Real Madrid in 1954 and retained its
title in 1955. They were winners again in 1957 and 1958, with only Athletic Bilbao interrupting their sequence. During this period, Real Madrid also
won an unprecedented five consecutive European Cups. Barcelona, with a team
coached by Helenio Herrera and featuring Luis Suárez, won the title in 1959 and 1960.
The Madrid years
Between 1961 and 1980, Real Madrid dominated the Primera División, being crowned champion 14
times. This included a five-in-a-row sequence from 1961 to 1965 and two
three-in-a-row sequences (1967–1969 and 1978–1980). During this era, only Atlético Madrid offered Real Madrid any serious challenge, adding four more titles
to their tally in 1966, 1970, 1973, and 1977. Of the other clubs, only Valencia in 1971 and the Johan Cruyff-inspired
Barcelona of 1974 managed to break the dominance of Real Madrid.
The 1980s
The Madrid winning sequence was ended more significantly in 1981
when Real Sociedad won their first-ever title. They retained it in 1982 and their two
in a row was followed by another by their fellow Basques Athletic Bilbao, who won
back-to-back titles in 1983 and 1984. Terry Venables led Barcelona to a
solitary title in 1985 before Real Madrid won again another five in a row
sequence (1986–1990) with a team guided by Leo Beenhakker and including Hugo Sánchez and the legendary La Quinta del Buitre - Emilio Butragueño, Manolo Sanchís, Martín Vázquez, Míchel andMiguel Pardeza.
The 1990s
Johan Cruyff returned to Barcelona as manager in 1988, and
assembled the legendary Dream Team. Cruyff
introduced players like Josep Guardiola, José Mari Bakero, Txiki Beguiristain,Goikoetxea, Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Romário, and Hristo Stoichkov. This team won Primera División four times between 1991
and 1994 and won the European Cup in 1992. Laudrup then moved to arch-rivals Real
Madrid after a fall-out with Cruyff, and helped them end Barcelona's run in
1995. Atlético Madrid won their ninth Primera División title in 1996 before
Real Madrid added another Liga trophy to their cabinet in 1997. After the
success of Cruyff, another Dutchman - Ajax manager Louis van Gaal - arrived at the Camp Nou, and with the
talents of Luís Figo, Luis Enrique, and Rivaldo, Barcelona again won the title in 1998 and 1999.
The 2000s
As Primera División entered a new century, the Big Two of Real
Madrid and Barcelona found themselves facing new challengers. Between 1993 and
2004, Deportivo La Coruña finished in the top three on ten occasions, a
better record than either Real Madrid or Barcelona, and in 2000, under Javier Irureta, they became the ninth team to be
crowned champions. Real Madrid won two more Liga titles in 2001 and 2003 and
also the UEFA Champions League in 2000 and 2002, and won their third league
title in 2007 after a three year drought. They were challenged by a
re-emergingValencia in both competitions.
Under the management of Héctor Cúper, Valencia
finished as Champions League runners-up in 2000 and 2001. His successor, Rafael Benítez, built on this and led the club
to a Liga title in 2002 and the winning a double with a league title and the UEFA Cup in 2004. The 2004–05 season saw a resurgent Barcelona, inspired by
the brilliant Ronaldinho, win their
first title of the new century, in addition to the Liga-Champions League double
in 2005–06. With world class players like Raúl, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Gonzalo Higuain, Real Madrid won back to back La Liga titles in
2006–07 and 2007–08 season. Under Josep Guardiola's Dream Team, powered by La Masia talents such as Lionel Messi, Xavi, and Andrés Iniesta, Barcelona added three straight Liga titles
(2008–09, 2009–10, and 2010–11). In the 2011-2012 season, Real Madrid won its
32nd title under the management of José Mourinho with a record-breaking
points tally of 100, a record 121 number of goals scored, most overall (32) and
away (16) wins in a single season in La Liga History
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