La Liga: Not Just About Real Madrid and Barcelona (Despite What They’d Like You to Believe)

by Elizabeth Hanchett, writing from New York

When Spain won the World Cup last month in South Africa, one of the first things out of my dad’s mouth as we were sitting around the dining room table, pouring out the celebratory Spanish wine, was that hopefully this would get more people interested in Spanish football, especially La Liga. My sister responded with the complaint that because Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are the only teams people know about and they’re the only ones who win the Spanish league anymore, the league itself is not going to be winning any new fans. My sister is a die-hard Sevillista.

And the truth is, even though I support Barcelona, she’s right. Unlike the English Premiere League, Spain’s La Liga only has two dominant clubs, the rest are lucky if they can get a spot in the top two (the last time was in the 2007-08 season, when Villarreal took advantage of a weak Barcelona side and finished second…right behind Real Madrid). It does kind of take the fun out of watching the league, even if my team does end up carrying a trophy home. It makes it hard for a team that’s not one of these two to make a name for itself outside of Spain, so most don’t even seem to try.