La Liga teams play one of the most watched football leagues in the world, and its format looks simple: 20 clubs, 38 games each, and a title for the team with the most points. But Spain does a few things differently, most notably in how it breaks ties. This guide explains how La Liga works in the 2026-27 season, which is the league’s 96th.
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Barcelona start the season as defending champions after winning their 29th league title in 2025-26. For results, previews, and match coverage, follow our La Liga news and recaps.
Which teams are in La Liga in 2026-27?
La Liga has 20 clubs. Seventeen stayed up from last season, and three were promoted from the second division: Racing Santander, Deportivo La Coruña, and Málaga. Deportivo and Málaga both return to the top flight after an absence of around eight years.
| Club | Club |
|---|---|
| Alavés | Málaga (promoted) |
| Athletic Club | Osasuna |
| Atlético Madrid | Racing Santander (promoted) |
| Barcelona (champions) | Rayo Vallecano |
| Celta Vigo | Real Betis |
| Deportivo La Coruña (promoted) | Real Madrid |
| Elche | Real Sociedad |
| Espanyol | Sevilla |
| Getafe | Valencia |
| Levante | Villarreal |
Real Madrid and Barcelona remain the league’s biggest clubs and usually fight for the title, with Atlético Madrid often the closest challenger. Clubs such as Villarreal, Real Betis, Real Sociedad, and Athletic Club usually compete for the European places behind them.
How does the La Liga season work?
Each club plays 38 matches, once at home and once away against every other club, for 380 matches in total. A win earns three points, a draw one point, and a loss none. The 2026-27 season runs from August 15, 2026 to May 30, 2027.
The 38 rounds are spread across the season with breaks for international fixtures and a short pause over Christmas. Most rounds are played over a weekend, with a few midweek rounds in between.
How are ties broken in La Liga?
This is where La Liga differs from the Premier League. When clubs finish level on points, La Liga looks first at the head-to-head results between the tied clubs, not at overall goal difference. Only if the head-to-head record is also level does it move on to overall goal difference and then goals scored.
Here’s a simple example: if Club A wins 2-0 at home against Club B and loses 1-0 away, the two clubs have three head-to-head points each, but Club A has the better head-to-head goal difference, so it finishes above Club B. When three or more clubs are level, the same steps are applied to a mini-table of their matches against each other.
Key takeaway
In La Liga, the two league meetings between rivals can decide a final table position, even if one of them has a much better goal difference over the whole season.
The Premier League does the opposite, using goal difference first, as explained in our Premier League format guide. That difference often shapes how Spanish clubs approach the second meeting with a direct rival late in the season.
How does La Liga relegation work?
The three clubs that finish 18th, 19th, and 20th are relegated to the second division, known as La Liga 2 or the Segunda División. They are replaced by three clubs from that division: the top two are promoted automatically, and the third place goes to the winner of a play-off between the clubs finishing third to sixth.
| Relegated after 2025-26 | Promoted for 2026-27 |
|---|---|
| Mallorca | Racing Santander (second-division champions) |
| Girona | Deportivo La Coruña |
| Real Oviedo | Málaga |
Reserve teams, such as Real Madrid’s or Barcelona’s second sides, can play in the second division but are not allowed to be promoted to La Liga, since a club can’t have two teams in the same division.
The Spanish football pyramid
La Liga sits at the top of a large league system. Below La Liga 2 comes the Primera Federación, with 40 clubs in two groups, followed by the Segunda Federación with 90 clubs and the Tercera Federación with 324 clubs in 18 regional groups.
Clubs move up and down between each level every season. La Liga 2 relegates four clubs to the Primera Federación, which is how clubs such as Mirandés, Huesca, Cultural Leonesa, and Zaragoza dropped out of the second tier after the 2025-26 season.
How do La Liga teams qualify for Europe?
Spain is one of UEFA’s strongest football countries, so its clubs receive several European places each season. Most are decided by league position, with one place usually reserved for the winner of the Copa del Rey, Spain’s main domestic cup.
| Competition | Usual route in |
|---|---|
| Champions League | Finish 1st to 4th |
| Europa League | Finish 5th, or win the Copa del Rey |
| Conference League | Finish 6th, through a qualifying play-off |
If the Copa del Rey winner has already qualified through the league, its place passes down the table. Spain can also earn an extra Champions League place through UEFA’s European Performance Spot, which goes to the two countries whose clubs perform best in Europe that season; our Champions League format guide explains how it works.
For the 2026-27 Champions League, five Spanish clubs qualified: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Villarreal, Atlético Madrid, and Real Betis.
Which clubs have won La Liga the most?
Real Madrid and Barcelona dominate the league’s history, and only a handful of other clubs have won the title in recent decades. Atlético Madrid are the most successful club outside the big two.
| Club | La Liga titles | Most recent title |
|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid | 36 | 2023-24 |
| Barcelona | 29 | 2025-26 |
| Atlético Madrid | 11 | 2020-21 |
Barcelona’s back-to-back titles in 2024-25 and 2025-26 mean they enter this season chasing a third straight championship.
El Clásico and the biggest La Liga fixtures
The most famous match in Spanish football is El Clásico, between Real Madrid and Barcelona, played twice each league season. Other major fixtures include the Madrid derby between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, and the Seville derby between Sevilla and Real Betis.
These games often carry extra weight in the title race because of the head-to-head tiebreaker. Winning both meetings against a direct rival gives a club the edge if the two finish level on points.
Watching La Liga from the Philippines
Spain is seven hours behind the Philippines while European clocks are on winter time, from late October to late March, and six hours behind during summer time. That means most La Liga matches air on Philippine evenings, late nights, and early mornings.
A Spanish evening kickoff typically falls in the early hours of the next morning in PHT, while weekend afternoon matches in Spain land on Philippine evenings. Check each fixture’s time in Philippine time on matchday, since kickoff slots vary from one round to the next.
What the format means for bettors
The league format creates markets beyond single matches, such as the title winner, a top-four finish, relegation, and the top scorer, all settled at the end of the season. The head-to-head tiebreaker can also matter for those season-long bets when clubs finish close together.
Our football betting guide explains these outright markets and match markets such as the 1X2 and Asian handicaps. Betting is for adults aged 21 and over.
