FM 2016 Competitions Preview: Spain

Hi guys, today we are going to show you a preview of the competitional system from Spain. Introduced in the late 19th century by a combination of mostly British immigrant workers, visiting sailors and Spanish students coming from Britain, football in Spain has been dominated throughout the years by the two rival clubs Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, who share no less than 55 titles between them. The matches between the two clubs, «El Clasico», are one of the most viewed sports events in the world.

Top League & Continental Winners

La Liga: Real Madrid (32), Barcelona (23), Atletico Madrid (10), Athletic Bilbao (8), Valencia (6), Real Sociedad (2), Deportivo La Coruña, Sevilla and Real Betis (1).

UEFA Champions League: Real Madrid (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2014) and Barcelona (1992, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2015). UEFA Europa League: Sevilla (2006, 2007, 2014, 2015), Real Madrid (1985, 1986), Atletico Madrid (2010, 2012) and Valencia (2004).

Tier I: Liga BBVA

• 38 games (teams play each other twice)
• Squad Registration: Maximum of 3 non-EU players
• Match Rules: Players signed on free transfer can be registered at any time
• Continental Qualification: 4 places for CL, 3 places for EL
• Relegation: Bottom 3 teams are relegated

The Primera División (First Division) of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional (LFP), commonly known in English as La Liga, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. It is officially named Liga BBVA (BBVA League) for sponsorship reasons. It is contested by 20 teams, with the three lowest placed teams relegated to the Segunda División and replaced by the top two teams in that division plus the winner of a play-off.

Liga BBVA Clubs (Ordered by Media Prediction)

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Tier II: Liga Adelante

• 42 games (teams play each other twice)
• Squad Registration: Maximum of 2 non-EU players
• Match Rules: Players signed on free transfer can be registered at any time
• Promotion: 2 teams promoted, 4 teams qualify for playoffs
• Relegation: Bottom 4 teams are relegated

The Segunda División (Second Division) (also named Liga Adelante for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest division overall in the Spanish football league system after the Liga BBVA. As of 2010-11 the league contains 22 teams that play each other home and away for a 42 match season. Each year three teams are promoted to La Liga. The top two teams earn an automatic promotion. The third team to be promoted is the winner of a play-off between the next four best qualified teams in positions 3 through 6 (reserve teams are not eligible for promotion). The bottom four are relegated to Segunda División B.

Liga Adelante Clubs (Ordered by Media Prediction)

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Tier III: Segunda Division B

• 42 games (teams play each other twice)
• Squad Registration: Maximum 2 goalkeepers in the team; maximum team size of 22 players
• Match Rules: Players signed on free transfer can be registered at any time
• Promotion: Top 4 teams from each group qualify for playoffs
• Relegation: Bottom 4 teams from each group are relegated, 16th place relegation playoffs

Segunda División B is the third level of the Spanish football league system. It includes the reserve teams of several La Liga and Segunda División teams. Currently it features 80 teams divided into 4 groups of 20. The top four teams from each group, 16 teams in total, qualify for play-offs to determine four teams to win promotion. However reserve teams are only eligible for promotion if their senior team is in the Primera División. Top five teams from each group and best two teams regardless of group outside the previous twenty, excluding reserve teams, also qualify for the following seasons Copa del Rey. The bottom four teams in each league are relegated. Also, the four 16th-placed teams enter into a relegation playoff to determine the two teams to be relegated.

Segunda Division B Clubs [B1, B2, B3, B4] (Ordered by Media Prediction)

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The Cups

• Copa del Rey — knockout tournament open to all clubs
• Spanish Federation Cup — knockout tournament open to clubs from Segunda División B (Tier III) and below
• Spanish Super Cup — single match between the Liga BBVA champions and Copa del Rey winners

Next time we’ll take a quick look at some other playable nations in the game. Below are some of the conventions I took in order to show more information in a compact view in the tables. Thanks for reading and please feel free to leave any comments or feedback. Happy managing!

Table Conventions

• Under INT – CL, EL = Europe during first season / (p) = promoted club / (r) = relegated club
• Under Finance – asterisk sign (*) = club is under transfer embargo due to breach of financial regulations
• Under Estimated Value – loan debt is shown in parenthesis ().