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I’ll cut straight to the chase, Spain’s La Premera Liga (The Premier League) better known to fans as La Liga totally rules! Forget the premiership, forget Serie A, in my view Spain's football league is the most exciting in the world. Don’t believe me? Then let’s go over the facts.
Football has been played competitively in Spain for over 100 years, with many of the country's oldest clubs celebrating their centenary years in the last couple of seasons.
What makes La Liga exciting to me is that a variety of teams can or at least have a chance of winning the league on every given year. Where as in the past it was usually a two horse race between Barcelona and Real Madrid, in recent years it has opened up so now teams such as Valencia, Alaves, Deportivo la Coruna and Celta Vigo all have good opportunities to do well, or even win the league. Evidence of this came when Deportivo won their first ever La Liga championship in the 1999/2000 season.
The officially ranked 3 best players in the world - Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Rivaldo all play domestic football in Spain.
In 1999, three Spanish sides - Valencia, Real Madrid and Barcelona secured places in the semi-finals of the Champions League. The final of European football’s top club championship, consisted of Spanish clubs Valencia and Real Madrid, with Real Madrid going on to victory.
La Liga can boast such stadiums such as the Bernabeu and the world famous Nou Camp (or Camp Nou as they say in Spain).
Apart from Rivaldo, Figo and Zidane, other famous La Liga players include: Raul, Patrick Kluivert, Roberto Carlos, Marc Overmars, Steve McManaman, Jordi Cruyff, Gustavo Lopez, etc.....
Understanding Spanish football
The Spanish first division consists of 20 teams, although discussions continue to reduce to 18. It went from 18 teams to 20 in 1988, and increased to 22 in 1995 following a major administrative mix-up when two teams were relegated for not presenting financial guarantees on time, and were then reinstated following lengthy appeals (this didn't help Sevilla, who were relegated the following season anyway).
The Spanish second division is made up of 22 teams from the whole of Spain, and lower divisions are regionalized. For some reason football authorities don't like the idea of 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. In England the first division is the premier league, the second division is called the first division and so on. In Spain, the second division is the division 2A, the third division is the division 2B (groups 1 to 4), and the fourth division is the division 3 (groups 1 to 20). This apparently gives players and clubs more status, rather like calling a junior buyer a purchasing executive, or a dustbin man a refuse disposal operative.
One difference with English football is that reserve teams (called team B, C, etc.) of the top clubs play in the lower divisions rather than in a separate league, although the lower ranked team cannot play in the same division as the higher team. The best known case is the Real Madrid reserve team of 1979/80, then known as Castilla (containing a young Michel, Butragueño, Sanchis etc), who won the second division, but could not be promoted.
La Copa del Rey, (the king’s Cup), the Spanish cup competition, is given less importance than in England, and seems to be played just to fill one more place in European competitions. Many managers have been sacked for winning the cup and not the league, but very few the other way round. The competition is played by teams from divisions 1 and 2A, and the leaders of 2B and 3, the first division teams entering after the first couple of rounds, and clubs playing in European competitions entering in the last 16. All matches are played over two legs, with a penalty shoot out if scores are level after extra time.
Kick-Off Times
Each Spanish first division match is played on a Sunday evening, with kick-off time around 7 pm in summer and 5 pm or 6.00 pm from autumn onwards. The Spanish national television La 2 and/or regional channels broadcast one live match every Saturday night. In addition, if any club is taking part in a mid-week European competition, their fixture is often brought forward to Saturday. In the UK, Sky Sports will normally show the televised Saturday and C+ Sunday matches, although they can choose other Pay-Per-View games if they are more interesting. The full schedule is not fixed until the beginning of each week.
Stars of the future
La Liga not only plays host to some of football’s most recognizable names, it also has a selection of exciting youngsters who’s names will in all probability be on everyone’s lips within a few years.
Javier Pedro Saviola - Barcelona
Date of Birth - 11 December 1981
Place of Birth - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Position -
Came from River Plate to join FC Barcelona this summer in a blaze of glory after ending up top scorer in the under 20 World Cup competition. Already named the best player in Barcelona’s pre-season Gamper trophy after scoring.
Vincente Rodríguez Guillén - Valencia
Date of birth - 16 July 1981
Place of Birth - Valencia, Spain
Position - Midfield
Brilliant youngster who plays out on the left of midfield. Made his debut for Spain last season, and played in the game against Austria at the start of this month. Switched back to the under 21 side for their vital game at France, but lost 3-0. Keeping Kily González out of the Valencia side, and made the winning goal for Angulo in the first match against Real Madrid.
Gerard López Segú - Barcelona
Date of birth - 12 March 1979
Place of Birth - Granollers, Barcelona
Position - Midfield
Another one of Barcelona's prodigal sons, Gerard left Camp Nou to seek his fortune elsewhere. He joined Valencia, and after a year on loan to Alavés he returned to triumph in Valencia's Champions League team last season. Rumoured to be the big money target of top Italian sides after winning a place in the Spanish Euro 2000 squad, Barcelona's then new president Juan Gaspart stepped in to offer him the chance to return home. Part of Camacho's plans for the future, he scored his first goal at international level in the recent qualifier against Bosnia.
David Karanka de la Hoz - Athletic
Date of birth - 24 April 1978
Place of birth - Vitoria, Spain
Position - Forward
Switched from Extremandura to Athletic this year. Promising young striker, younger brother of Real Madrid's Aitor. Will be competing with another young forward Cuéllar as back up for Urzaiz. Unfortunately he started the season injured.
I hope you enjoyed my little introduction into Spanish football. Remember, you can keep up to date with all the happenings in La Liga every weekend on Sky Sports TV.
La Liga Rules! Nuff Said! :-)
Football has been played competitively in Spain for over 100 years, with many of the country's oldest clubs celebrating their centenary years in the last couple of seasons.
What makes La Liga exciting to me is that a variety of teams can or at least have a chance of winning the league on every given year. Where as in the past it was usually a two horse race between Barcelona and Real Madrid, in recent years it has opened up so now teams such as Valencia, Alaves, Deportivo la Coruna and Celta Vigo all have good opportunities to do well, or even win the league. Evidence of this came when Deportivo won their first ever La Liga championship in the 1999/2000 season.
The officially ranked 3 best players in the world - Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Rivaldo all play domestic football in Spain.
In 1999, three Spanish sides - Valencia, Real Madrid and Barcelona secured places in the semi-finals of the Champions League. The final of European football’s top club championship, consisted of Spanish clubs Valencia and Real Madrid, with Real Madrid going on to victory.
La Liga can boast such stadiums such as the Bernabeu and the world famous Nou Camp (or Camp Nou as they say in Spain).
Apart from Rivaldo, Figo and Zidane, other famous La Liga players include: Raul, Patrick Kluivert, Roberto Carlos, Marc Overmars, Steve McManaman, Jordi Cruyff, Gustavo Lopez, etc.....
Understanding Spanish football
The Spanish first division consists of 20 teams, although discussions continue to reduce to 18. It went from 18 teams to 20 in 1988, and increased to 22 in 1995 following a major administrative mix-up when two teams were relegated for not presenting financial guarantees on time, and were then reinstated following lengthy appeals (this didn't help Sevilla, who were relegated the following season anyway).
The Spanish second division is made up of 22 teams from the whole of Spain, and lower divisions are regionalized. For some reason football authorities don't like the idea of 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. In England the first division is the premier league, the second division is called the first division and so on. In Spain, the second division is the division 2A, the third division is the division 2B (groups 1 to 4), and the fourth division is the division 3 (groups 1 to 20). This apparently gives players and clubs more status, rather like calling a junior buyer a purchasing executive, or a dustbin man a refuse disposal operative.
One difference with English football is that reserve teams (called team B, C, etc.) of the top clubs play in the lower divisions rather than in a separate league, although the lower ranked team cannot play in the same division as the higher team. The best known case is the Real Madrid reserve team of 1979/80, then known as Castilla (containing a young Michel, Butragueño, Sanchis etc), who won the second division, but could not be promoted.
La Copa del Rey, (the king’s Cup), the Spanish cup competition, is given less importance than in England, and seems to be played just to fill one more place in European competitions. Many managers have been sacked for winning the cup and not the league, but very few the other way round. The competition is played by teams from divisions 1 and 2A, and the leaders of 2B and 3, the first division teams entering after the first couple of rounds, and clubs playing in European competitions entering in the last 16. All matches are played over two legs, with a penalty shoot out if scores are level after extra time.
Kick-Off Times
Each Spanish first division match is played on a Sunday evening, with kick-off time around 7 pm in summer and 5 pm or 6.00 pm from autumn onwards. The Spanish national television La 2 and/or regional channels broadcast one live match every Saturday night. In addition, if any club is taking part in a mid-week European competition, their fixture is often brought forward to Saturday. In the UK, Sky Sports will normally show the televised Saturday and C+ Sunday matches, although they can choose other Pay-Per-View games if they are more interesting. The full schedule is not fixed until the beginning of each week.
Stars of the future
La Liga not only plays host to some of football’s most recognizable names, it also has a selection of exciting youngsters who’s names will in all probability be on everyone’s lips within a few years.
Javier Pedro Saviola - Barcelona
Date of Birth - 11 December 1981
Place of Birth - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Position -
Came from River Plate to join FC Barcelona this summer in a blaze of glory after ending up top scorer in the under 20 World Cup competition. Already named the best player in Barcelona’s pre-season Gamper trophy after scoring.
Vincente Rodríguez Guillén - Valencia
Date of birth - 16 July 1981
Place of Birth - Valencia, Spain
Position - Midfield
Brilliant youngster who plays out on the left of midfield. Made his debut for Spain last season, and played in the game against Austria at the start of this month. Switched back to the under 21 side for their vital game at France, but lost 3-0. Keeping Kily González out of the Valencia side, and made the winning goal for Angulo in the first match against Real Madrid.
Gerard López Segú - Barcelona
Date of birth - 12 March 1979
Place of Birth - Granollers, Barcelona
Position - Midfield
Another one of Barcelona's prodigal sons, Gerard left Camp Nou to seek his fortune elsewhere. He joined Valencia, and after a year on loan to Alavés he returned to triumph in Valencia's Champions League team last season. Rumoured to be the big money target of top Italian sides after winning a place in the Spanish Euro 2000 squad, Barcelona's then new president Juan Gaspart stepped in to offer him the chance to return home. Part of Camacho's plans for the future, he scored his first goal at international level in the recent qualifier against Bosnia.
David Karanka de la Hoz - Athletic
Date of birth - 24 April 1978
Place of birth - Vitoria, Spain
Position - Forward
Switched from Extremandura to Athletic this year. Promising young striker, younger brother of Real Madrid's Aitor. Will be competing with another young forward Cuéllar as back up for Urzaiz. Unfortunately he started the season injured.
I hope you enjoyed my little introduction into Spanish football. Remember, you can keep up to date with all the happenings in La Liga every weekend on Sky Sports TV.
La Liga Rules! Nuff Said! :-)
Spanish football is so great to watch. Compared to the English Premiership, in my opinion its another class.
They seem to be able to pass the ball around alot easier, probably due to the amount of World Class footballers in the country.
They seem to be able to pass the ball around alot easier, probably due to the amount of World Class footballers in the country.
Saviola is already one of Barcelona's star players so, who knows what he could do in the near future
I reckon Saviola has the potential to become one of the world greats.
Still so young, but he has a great scoring record.
Seen him a few times in the champions league and he looks class.
If given the chance, I reckon he could really Shine in the 2002 world cup.
Still so young, but he has a great scoring record.
Seen him a few times in the champions league and he looks class.
If given the chance, I reckon he could really Shine in the 2002 world cup.
I used to watch La Liga every weekend, but for some reason I got bored of it. There are loads of top players playing in Spain (Rivaldo, Kluivert, Raul, etc...) but it's usually just a 2-horsed-race. Mainly between Real Madrid and Barcelona, the 2 biggest Spanish teams in history. I know that Deportivo won it a year/two ago, but 9.5/10 times, you'll find that it's one of the top two teams that wins it! I find this boring, and I prefer a league with more of a variety. Even though I like the Premiership, and I'm a Man Utd fan!!
I prefer Serie A. You never know who's gunna win it. There're at least 5 top teams that could do. Juventus, Roma Inter and Milan, and Lazio are the main contenders. I don't know who'll win it this season, but it'll be close again. You also get a variety of players in Italian teams, ulike Spain, where they're mainly Spanish or Brazilian.
I also think Patrick Vieira will leave Arsenal in the summer, for an Italian side like Juvé. I also think he'd prefer Italy to Spain, as there are more possibillities of who'll win the title.
I prefer Serie A. You never know who's gunna win it. There're at least 5 top teams that could do. Juventus, Roma Inter and Milan, and Lazio are the main contenders. I don't know who'll win it this season, but it'll be close again. You also get a variety of players in Italian teams, ulike Spain, where they're mainly Spanish or Brazilian.
I also think Patrick Vieira will leave Arsenal in the summer, for an Italian side like Juvé. I also think he'd prefer Italy to Spain, as there are more possibillities of who'll win the title.
I’ll cut straight to the chase, Spain’s La Premera Liga (The Premier League) better known to fans as La Liga totally rules! Forget the premiership, forget Serie A, in my view Spain's football league is the most exciting in the world. Don’t believe me? Then let’s go over the facts.
Football has been played competitively in Spain for over 100 years, with many of the country's oldest clubs celebrating their centenary years in the last couple of seasons.
What makes La Liga exciting to me is that a variety of teams can or at least have a chance of winning the league on every given year. Where as in the past it was usually a two horse race between Barcelona and Real Madrid, in recent years it has opened up so now teams such as Valencia, Alaves, Deportivo la Coruna and Celta Vigo all have good opportunities to do well, or even win the league. Evidence of this came when Deportivo won their first ever La Liga championship in the 1999/2000 season.
The officially ranked 3 best players in the world - Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Rivaldo all play domestic football in Spain.
In 1999, three Spanish sides - Valencia, Real Madrid and Barcelona secured places in the semi-finals of the Champions League. The final of European football’s top club championship, consisted of Spanish clubs Valencia and Real Madrid, with Real Madrid going on to victory.
La Liga can boast such stadiums such as the Bernabeu and the world famous Nou Camp (or Camp Nou as they say in Spain).
Apart from Rivaldo, Figo and Zidane, other famous La Liga players include: Raul, Patrick Kluivert, Roberto Carlos, Marc Overmars, Steve McManaman, Jordi Cruyff, Gustavo Lopez, etc.....
Understanding Spanish football
The Spanish first division consists of 20 teams, although discussions continue to reduce to 18. It went from 18 teams to 20 in 1988, and increased to 22 in 1995 following a major administrative mix-up when two teams were relegated for not presenting financial guarantees on time, and were then reinstated following lengthy appeals (this didn't help Sevilla, who were relegated the following season anyway).
The Spanish second division is made up of 22 teams from the whole of Spain, and lower divisions are regionalized. For some reason football authorities don't like the idea of 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. In England the first division is the premier league, the second division is called the first division and so on. In Spain, the second division is the division 2A, the third division is the division 2B (groups 1 to 4), and the fourth division is the division 3 (groups 1 to 20). This apparently gives players and clubs more status, rather like calling a junior buyer a purchasing executive, or a dustbin man a refuse disposal operative.
One difference with English football is that reserve teams (called team B, C, etc.) of the top clubs play in the lower divisions rather than in a separate league, although the lower ranked team cannot play in the same division as the higher team. The best known case is the Real Madrid reserve team of 1979/80, then known as Castilla (containing a young Michel, Butragueño, Sanchis etc), who won the second division, but could not be promoted.
La Copa del Rey, (the king’s Cup), the Spanish cup competition, is given less importance than in England, and seems to be played just to fill one more place in European competitions. Many managers have been sacked for winning the cup and not the league, but very few the other way round. The competition is played by teams from divisions 1 and 2A, and the leaders of 2B and 3, the first division teams entering after the first couple of rounds, and clubs playing in European competitions entering in the last 16. All matches are played over two legs, with a penalty shoot out if scores are level after extra time.
Kick-Off Times
Each Spanish first division match is played on a Sunday evening, with kick-off time around 7 pm in summer and 5 pm or 6.00 pm from autumn onwards. The Spanish national television La 2 and/or regional channels broadcast one live match every Saturday night. In addition, if any club is taking part in a mid-week European competition, their fixture is often brought forward to Saturday. In the UK, Sky Sports will normally show the televised Saturday and C+ Sunday matches, although they can choose other Pay-Per-View games if they are more interesting. The full schedule is not fixed until the beginning of each week.
Stars of the future
La Liga not only plays host to some of football’s most recognizable names, it also has a selection of exciting youngsters who’s names will in all probability be on everyone’s lips within a few years.
Javier Pedro Saviola - Barcelona
Date of Birth - 11 December 1981
Place of Birth - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Position -
Came from River Plate to join FC Barcelona this summer in a blaze of glory after ending up top scorer in the under 20 World Cup competition. Already named the best player in Barcelona’s pre-season Gamper trophy after scoring.
Vincente Rodríguez Guillén - Valencia
Date of birth - 16 July 1981
Place of Birth - Valencia, Spain
Position - Midfield
Brilliant youngster who plays out on the left of midfield. Made his debut for Spain last season, and played in the game against Austria at the start of this month. Switched back to the under 21 side for their vital game at France, but lost 3-0. Keeping Kily González out of the Valencia side, and made the winning goal for Angulo in the first match against Real Madrid.
Gerard López Segú - Barcelona
Date of birth - 12 March 1979
Place of Birth - Granollers, Barcelona
Position - Midfield
Another one of Barcelona's prodigal sons, Gerard left Camp Nou to seek his fortune elsewhere. He joined Valencia, and after a year on loan to Alavés he returned to triumph in Valencia's Champions League team last season. Rumoured to be the big money target of top Italian sides after winning a place in the Spanish Euro 2000 squad, Barcelona's then new president Juan Gaspart stepped in to offer him the chance to return home. Part of Camacho's plans for the future, he scored his first goal at international level in the recent qualifier against Bosnia.
David Karanka de la Hoz - Athletic
Date of birth - 24 April 1978
Place of birth - Vitoria, Spain
Position - Forward
Switched from Extremandura to Athletic this year. Promising young striker, younger brother of Real Madrid's Aitor. Will be competing with another young forward Cuéllar as back up for Urzaiz. Unfortunately he started the season injured.
I hope you enjoyed my little introduction into Spanish football. Remember, you can keep up to date with all the happenings in La Liga every weekend on Sky Sports TV.
La Liga Rules! Nuff Said! :-)
Football has been played competitively in Spain for over 100 years, with many of the country's oldest clubs celebrating their centenary years in the last couple of seasons.
What makes La Liga exciting to me is that a variety of teams can or at least have a chance of winning the league on every given year. Where as in the past it was usually a two horse race between Barcelona and Real Madrid, in recent years it has opened up so now teams such as Valencia, Alaves, Deportivo la Coruna and Celta Vigo all have good opportunities to do well, or even win the league. Evidence of this came when Deportivo won their first ever La Liga championship in the 1999/2000 season.
The officially ranked 3 best players in the world - Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Rivaldo all play domestic football in Spain.
In 1999, three Spanish sides - Valencia, Real Madrid and Barcelona secured places in the semi-finals of the Champions League. The final of European football’s top club championship, consisted of Spanish clubs Valencia and Real Madrid, with Real Madrid going on to victory.
La Liga can boast such stadiums such as the Bernabeu and the world famous Nou Camp (or Camp Nou as they say in Spain).
Apart from Rivaldo, Figo and Zidane, other famous La Liga players include: Raul, Patrick Kluivert, Roberto Carlos, Marc Overmars, Steve McManaman, Jordi Cruyff, Gustavo Lopez, etc.....
Understanding Spanish football
The Spanish first division consists of 20 teams, although discussions continue to reduce to 18. It went from 18 teams to 20 in 1988, and increased to 22 in 1995 following a major administrative mix-up when two teams were relegated for not presenting financial guarantees on time, and were then reinstated following lengthy appeals (this didn't help Sevilla, who were relegated the following season anyway).
The Spanish second division is made up of 22 teams from the whole of Spain, and lower divisions are regionalized. For some reason football authorities don't like the idea of 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. In England the first division is the premier league, the second division is called the first division and so on. In Spain, the second division is the division 2A, the third division is the division 2B (groups 1 to 4), and the fourth division is the division 3 (groups 1 to 20). This apparently gives players and clubs more status, rather like calling a junior buyer a purchasing executive, or a dustbin man a refuse disposal operative.
One difference with English football is that reserve teams (called team B, C, etc.) of the top clubs play in the lower divisions rather than in a separate league, although the lower ranked team cannot play in the same division as the higher team. The best known case is the Real Madrid reserve team of 1979/80, then known as Castilla (containing a young Michel, Butragueño, Sanchis etc), who won the second division, but could not be promoted.
La Copa del Rey, (the king’s Cup), the Spanish cup competition, is given less importance than in England, and seems to be played just to fill one more place in European competitions. Many managers have been sacked for winning the cup and not the league, but very few the other way round. The competition is played by teams from divisions 1 and 2A, and the leaders of 2B and 3, the first division teams entering after the first couple of rounds, and clubs playing in European competitions entering in the last 16. All matches are played over two legs, with a penalty shoot out if scores are level after extra time.
Kick-Off Times
Each Spanish first division match is played on a Sunday evening, with kick-off time around 7 pm in summer and 5 pm or 6.00 pm from autumn onwards. The Spanish national television La 2 and/or regional channels broadcast one live match every Saturday night. In addition, if any club is taking part in a mid-week European competition, their fixture is often brought forward to Saturday. In the UK, Sky Sports will normally show the televised Saturday and C+ Sunday matches, although they can choose other Pay-Per-View games if they are more interesting. The full schedule is not fixed until the beginning of each week.
Stars of the future
La Liga not only plays host to some of football’s most recognizable names, it also has a selection of exciting youngsters who’s names will in all probability be on everyone’s lips within a few years.
Javier Pedro Saviola - Barcelona
Date of Birth - 11 December 1981
Place of Birth - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Position -
Came from River Plate to join FC Barcelona this summer in a blaze of glory after ending up top scorer in the under 20 World Cup competition. Already named the best player in Barcelona’s pre-season Gamper trophy after scoring.
Vincente Rodríguez Guillén - Valencia
Date of birth - 16 July 1981
Place of Birth - Valencia, Spain
Position - Midfield
Brilliant youngster who plays out on the left of midfield. Made his debut for Spain last season, and played in the game against Austria at the start of this month. Switched back to the under 21 side for their vital game at France, but lost 3-0. Keeping Kily González out of the Valencia side, and made the winning goal for Angulo in the first match against Real Madrid.
Gerard López Segú - Barcelona
Date of birth - 12 March 1979
Place of Birth - Granollers, Barcelona
Position - Midfield
Another one of Barcelona's prodigal sons, Gerard left Camp Nou to seek his fortune elsewhere. He joined Valencia, and after a year on loan to Alavés he returned to triumph in Valencia's Champions League team last season. Rumoured to be the big money target of top Italian sides after winning a place in the Spanish Euro 2000 squad, Barcelona's then new president Juan Gaspart stepped in to offer him the chance to return home. Part of Camacho's plans for the future, he scored his first goal at international level in the recent qualifier against Bosnia.
David Karanka de la Hoz - Athletic
Date of birth - 24 April 1978
Place of birth - Vitoria, Spain
Position - Forward
Switched from Extremandura to Athletic this year. Promising young striker, younger brother of Real Madrid's Aitor. Will be competing with another young forward Cuéllar as back up for Urzaiz. Unfortunately he started the season injured.
I hope you enjoyed my little introduction into Spanish football. Remember, you can keep up to date with all the happenings in La Liga every weekend on Sky Sports TV.
La Liga Rules! Nuff Said! :-)