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124-519: The first stone of the construction was placed on 18 June 1998 and the first match played in this stadium took place on September 17, 2000, a Primera División match between Real Oviedo and Las Palmas . The stadium was officially opened on September 20, 2000, with a friendly match between Real Oviedo and FK Partizan . The new stadium has been criticised by a number of different sources, especially about its location, which does not have adequate access and emergency exits for large attendances. Furthermore,

248-499: A La Liga and Copa del Generalísimo double in 1943 and won the Cup again in 1944 , 1945 and 1950 , in addition to an Copa Eva Duarte (official predecessor of the Supercopa ). Sevilla also enjoyed a brief golden era, finishing as runners-up in 1940 and 1942 before winning their only title to date in 1946. Meanwhile, on the other side of Spain, Barcelona began to emerge as a force under

372-454: A back-to-back Liga/Copa Del Rey double, something that had not been achieved since the 1950s. Real Madrid brought back the La Liga title under the management of Zinedine Zidane in 2016–17, but Barcelona won the title again in the 2017–18 season, as well as winning their eighth double, for seven La Liga titles in ten years. Barcelona retained the title yet again and won their 26th La Liga title in

496-452: A club. A restructuring of Mestalla resulted in an increase in spectator capacity to 45,000, while the club had a number of Spanish and foreign stars. Players such as Spanish international Antonio Puchades and Dutch forward Faas Wilkes graced the pitch at Mestalla. In the 1952–53 season, the club finished as runners-up in La Liga, and in the following season, won the Copa del Rey, then known as

620-469: A comeback in the second half saw them win 3–2. In the second part of the season, Benítez's team suffered a temporary setback after losing 1–0 at the Santiago Bernabéu to Real Madrid, but in the coming six matches they recovered from this defeat and achieved four victories and two draws. [REDACTED] In one of these crucial games against Espanyol, Valencia were trailing 1–0 at half-time and down

744-417: A disappointing season, Valencia was in 17th place and faced relegation with seven games left to play. Koldo Aguirre replaced Miljanić as coach, and Valencia barely avoided relegation that year, relying on favorable results from other teams to ensure their own survival. In the 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons, the club was heavily in debt under the presidency of Vicente Tormo. The club finally hit rock bottom when it

868-423: A dramatic final week where they defeated Granada 4–0. On 2 July 2015, Amadeo Salvo resigned from his post as the executive president of Valencia, citing personal reasons. He was a popular figure among the fans. On 10 August 2015, Nicolás Otamendi was sold to Manchester City for £32 million and Aymen Abdennour was signed from Monaco for £22 million as his replacement. Valencia defeated Monaco in

992-507: A game which finished in a 4–1 Spanish victory and the second, on 12 September 2007, against Latvia , finishing with a 2–0 home win. On 5 September 2015 in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying , Spain won against Slovakia 2-0. In 2011, the Spain national under-21 football team played an official game against Poland , winning 2–0. This is a list of league and playoffs games attendances of Real Oviedo at

1116-562: A hegemony in Spain not seen since the Real Madrid of the 1960s–70s. Since the start of the new century, Barcelona won ten La Ligas, including two trebles and four doubles . This new century however has also seen new challengers being crowned champions. Between 1999–2000 and 2004, Deportivo La Coruña finished in the top three on five occasions, a better record than either Real Madrid or Barcelona, and in 2000, under Javier Irureta , Deportivo became

1240-626: A last minute goal completing a hat-trick from Rivaldo , resulting in Barcelona qualifying for the Champions League ahead of their side. Valencia president D. Pedro Cortés resigned for personal reasons and left the club in July, with the satisfaction of overseeing the club win the Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup, as well as reaching two successive Champions League finals. D. Jaime Ortí replaced Cortés as president and expressed his intention of maintaining

1364-606: 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 its 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 . Athletic Bilbao

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1488-623: A player as well following the dismissal of Carboni. However, after a second half brace from Rubén Baraja , they would achieve a 2–1 comeback win. Furthermore, Real Madrid's defeat at the Anoeta to Real Sociedad left Valencia with a three-point lead at the top of the table. Valencia's final game of the season was on 5 May 2002 at La Rosaleda against Málaga , a day that has gone down in Valencia's history. The team shut itself away in Benalmádena , close to

1612-463: A player still active in La Liga. Italics indicates a player still active outside La Liga. Boldface indicates a player still active in La Liga. Italics indicates a player still active outside La Liga. Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol ( Spanish: [baˈlenθja ˈkluβ ðe ˈfuðβol] ; Valencian : València Club de Futbol [vaˈlensi.a ˈklub de fubˈbɔl] ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia ),

1736-402: A record 100 points, a record 121 goals scored and a record +89 goal difference. The following year, in the 2012–13 season, Barcelona won yet another La Liga title under coach Tito Vilanova , replicating the 100 points record Real Madrid achieved the previous year. Atlético Madrid, under the management of Diego Simeone , won their tenth La Liga title in 2013–14, their first since 1996. They became

1860-421: A row from 1961 to 1965 as well as winning three doubles between 1960 and 1980. During the 1960s and 1970s, only Atlético Madrid offered Real Madrid any serious challenge. Atlético Madrid were crowned La Liga champions four times in 1966, 1970, 1973, and 1977. Atlético Madrid also finished second place in 1961, 1963, and 1965. In 1971, Valencia won their fourth La Liga title in 1971 under Alfredo Di Stéfano , and

1984-554: A semi-finals appearance in 2003–04 . During the 2005–06 European season, La Liga became the first league to have its clubs win both the Champions League and UEFA Cup since 1997, as Barcelona won the UEFA Champions League and Sevilla won the UEFA Cup . This feat was repeated four times in five seasons: during the 2013–14 season Real Madrid won their tenth Champions League title and Sevilla won their third Europa League , during

2108-497: A series of play-offs involving the third, fourth, fifth and sixth placed clubs. Below is a complete record of how many teams played in each season throughout the league's history; If points are equal between two or more clubs, the rules are: The top four teams in La Liga qualify for the subsequent season's UEFA Champions League group stage. The winners of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League also qualify for

2232-420: A string of disappointing performances, and caretaker manager Óscar Fernández took over on a temporary basis until a full-time manager was found, rumoured to be either Marcello Lippi or José Mourinho . A day later, Dutch manager Ronald Koeman announced he would be leaving PSV Eindhoven to sign for Valencia. However, Koeman's appointment failed to lead to improvement; in fact, Valencia even went on to drop to

2356-459: A third consecutive Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final in the following season , but this time were defeated 2–1 by fellow Spanish club Zaragoza . Former two-time European Footballer of the Year award winner Alfredo Di Stéfano was hired as Valencia coach in 1970, and immediately inspired his new club to their fourth La Liga championship and first since 1947. This secured Valencia its first qualification for

2480-634: A win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, with the highest-ranked club crowned champion at the end of the season. A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Primera División and the Segunda División . The three lowest placed teams in La Liga are relegated to the Segunda División , and the top two teams from the Segunda División promoted to La Liga, with an additional club promoted after

2604-831: Is a Spanish professional football club based in Valencia , Spain, that currently plays in La Liga , the top flight of the Spanish league system . Valencia was founded in 1919 and has played its home games at the 49,430-seater Mestalla since its opening. Valencia has won six Spanish League titles, eight Copa del Rey titles, one Supercopa de España , and one Copa Eva Duarte . In European competitions, they have won two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups , one UEFA Cup , one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup , two UEFA Super Cups , and one UEFA Intertoto Cup . They have also reached two consecutive UEFA Champions League finals ( 2000 and 2001 ). Valencia were also members of

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2728-410: Is contested by 20 teams over a 38-matchday period. Since its inception, 62 teams have competed in La Liga. Nine teams have been crowned champions, with Barcelona winning the inaugural La Liga and Real Madrid winning the title a record 36 times. Real Madrid are also the most recent winners, having won the 2023–24 edition . During the 1940s Valencia , Atlético Madrid and Barcelona were emerged as

2852-501: The Copa del Rey ) team qualifies for the subsequent season's UEFA Conference League play-off round. The number of places allocated to Spanish clubs in UEFA competitions is dependent upon the position a country holds in the UEFA country coefficients , which are calculated based upon the performance of teams in UEFA competitions in the previous five years. As of the end of the 2023–24 season,

2976-446: The Copa del Rey . Atlético Madrid , Espanyol and Europa qualified as Copa del Rey runners-up and Racing de Santander qualified through a knockout competition. Only three of the founding clubs (Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Athletic Bilbao) have never been relegated from the Primera División . Although Barcelona won the first Liga in 1929 and Ricardo Zamora 's Real Madrid won their first titles in 1932 and 1933 , it

3100-445: The 2009 Group Winners play-off against RCD Mallorca B , and the blues won 1–0. The first international game was held on 23 December 2000, when the autonomous team Asturias played a friendly game against Macedonia . 25,000 people were in attendance at the game, which finished 1–0 with a goal from Juanele . Spain has played three times in the new Carlos Tartiere. The first time, on 6 June 2001, against Bosnia and Herzegovina in

3224-611: The 2015–16 season . Additional awards relating to La Liga are distributed, some not sanctioned by the Liga de Futbol Profesional or RFEF and therefore not regarded as official. The most notable of these are four awarded by Spain's largest sports paper, Marca , namely the Pichichi Trophy , awarded to the top scorer of the season; the Ricardo Zamora Trophy , for the goalkeeper with the fewest goals allowed per game (minimum 28 games);

3348-408: The 2016–17 season . Former Italy national team head coach Cesare Prandelli was hired as his replacement on 28 September. However, he resigned after just three months on 30 December, claiming the club had made him false transfer promises. Days later, on 7 January 2017, Valencia sporting director Jesús García Pitarch also resigned, saying he felt like he was being used as a shield for criticism by

3472-822: The ACP countries —countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific that are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement —are not counted against non-EU quotas due to the Kolpak ruling . Until the 2008–09 season, no official individual awards existed in La Liga. In the 2008–09 season, the governing body created the LFP Awards (now called La Liga Awards), awarded each season to individual players and coaches. The majority of these awards were discontinued after

3596-648: The Alfredo Di Stéfano Trophy , for the player judged to be the best overall player in the division; and the Zarra Trophy , for the top scorer among Spanish domestic players. Since the 2013–14 season, La Liga has also bestowed the monthly manager of the month and player of the month awards. The first La Liga player to be involved in a transfer which broke the world record was Luis Suárez in 1961, who moved from Barcelona to Inter Milan for £152,000 (£4.3 million in 2023). 12 years later, Johan Cruyff

3720-532: The COVID-19 pandemic are not included. La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División , commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga and is officially known as LaLiga EA Sports since 2023 because of sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional football division of the Spanish football league system . It is controlled by the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional and it

3844-473: The Camp Nou , and with the talents of Luís Figo , Luis Enrique , and Rivaldo , Barcelona won the La Liga title in 1998 and 1999, including their fourth double of Liga and Copa Del Rey in 1998. All in all, Barcelona won six La Liga titles in the 1990s. The 21st century continued the success Barcelona had in the 1990s under Johan Cruyff, dominating La Liga. Although Real Madrid had been prominent, Barcelona created

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3968-508: The Champions League play-off round with a 4–3 aggregate victory. However, Valencia had a poor start to the 2015–16 league season , winning only five out of thirteen matches and failing to progress from the Champions League group stage . The fans were also increasingly concerned about the growing influence of Jorge Mendes in the club's activities. On 29 November, Nuno resigned as manager and former Manchester United defender Gary Neville

4092-514: The G-14 group of leading European football clubs and since its end has been part of the original members of the European Club Association . In total, Valencia have reached seven major European finals, winning four of them. Historically one of the biggest clubs in the world in terms of number of associates (registered paying supporters), with around 50,000 season ticket holders at their peak,

4216-1132: The Johan Cruyff -inspired Barcelona won their ninth La Liga in 1974. Real Madrid's monopoly in La Liga was interrupted significantly in the 1980s. Although Real Madrid won another five La Liga titles from 1986 to 1990 under the brilliance of Emilio Butragueño and Hugo Sánchez , the Basque clubs of Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao also dominated the 1980s. Real Sociedad won their first La Liga titles in 1981 and 1982; Luis Arconada , Roberto López Ufarte and Txiki Begiristain stood out from this team. Later, Athletic Bilbao also managed to win two consecutive La Liga titles in 1983 and 1984, also achieving their fifth La Liga and Copa del Rey double in 1984; The stars Andoni Zubizarreta , Santi Urkiaga , Andoni Goikoetxea , Dani , Manuel Sarabia and Estanislao Argote made this success possible. For its part, Barcelona won their tenth La Liga title in 1985 under coach Terry Venables , their first La Liga win since 1974. Johan Cruyff returned to Barcelona as manager in 1988, and assembled

4340-597: The Netherlands and Argentinian forward Mario Kempes , who was consecutively La Liga top scorer in 1976–77 and 1977–78. Valencia would go on to win the Copa del Rey again in the 1978–79 season, and also capture the European Cup Winners' Cup the next season, after beating English club Arsenal in the final, with Kempes spearheading their success in Europe. In 1982, the club appointed Miljan Miljanić as coach. After

4464-684: The Spanish Super Cup . Valencia finished third in the league, four points behind champions Deportivo La Coruña , and level on points with second-placed Barça. The biggest success for the club, however, was in the Champions League; for the first time in its history, Valencia reached the European Cup final. However, in the final played in Paris on 24 May 2000, Real Madrid would beat Valencia 3–0. The final would also be Claudio López's farewell, as he had agreed to sign for Italian side Lazio ; also leaving

4588-726: The UEFA Cup . Guus Hiddink was appointed as head coach in the 1991–92 season, and the club finished fourth in the League and reached the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey. In 1992, Valencia officially became a Sporting Limited Company, and retained Hiddink as their coach until 1993. Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira , fresh from winning the 1994 FIFA World Cup with the Brazil national team , became manager at Mestalla in 1994. Parreira immediately signed Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta , Russian forward Oleg Salenko , and Predrag Mijatović , but failed to produce results expected of him. He

4712-563: The 15th position in the league, just two points above the relegation zone. Despite their poor league form, Valencia would still go on to lift the Copa del Rey on 16 April 2008, following a 3–1 victory over Getafe at the Vicente Calderón . This was the club's seventh Copa title. Five days later, one day after a devastating 5–1 league defeat in Bilbao, Valencia fired Koeman and replaced him with Voro , who would guide Valencia as caretaker manager for

4836-420: The 1930s through the 1950s there were strict limits imposed on foreign players. In most cases, clubs could have only 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 who naturalised Alfredo Di Stéfano and Ferenc Puskás . Di Stéfano, Puskás, Raymond Kopa and Francisco Gento formed

4960-635: The 1950s continued the success FC Barcelona had during the late 1940s. During this decade, FC Barcelona's first golden era emerged under coach Ferdinand Daučík , winning back-to-back La Liga and Copa Del Rey doubles in 1951–52 and 1952–53 . In 1952, FC Barcelona made history yet again by winning five distinctive trophies in one year. This team, composed of László Kubala , Mariano Gonzalvo , César Rodríguez Álvarez , and Joan Segarra , won La Liga, Copa Del Rey, Copa Eva Duarte (predecessor of Spanish Super Cup), Latin Cup and Copa Martini & Rossi. Their success in winning five trophies in one year earned them

5084-473: The 1986–87 season. Di Stéfano stayed on as coach until the 1987–88 season, when the team finished in 14th position in La Liga. Bulgarian forward Luboslav Penev joined the club in 1989, as Valencia aimed to consolidate their place in La Liga. In the 1988–89 La Liga season, Valencia finished third, which would signal their competitiveness going into the 1990s. In the 1989–90 La Liga season, Valencia finished as runners-up to Real Madrid, and thus qualified for

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5208-471: The 1990s onward, Barcelona has dominated La Liga, winning seventeen titles to date. Although Real Madrid has also been prominent, winning eleven titles, La Liga has also seen other champions, including Valencia and Deportivo La Coruña . According to UEFA 's league coefficient rankings, La Liga was the top league in Europe in each of the seven years from 2013 to 2019 (calculated using accumulated figures from five preceding seasons) and led Europe for 22 of

5332-475: The 2005–06 season. In 2009–10, Real Madrid achieved a record 96 points but still finished behind Barcelona, who amassed 99 points. Barcelona then won a third straight La Liga title in the 2010–11 season with 96 points to Real's 92, but Real Madrid ended their winning streak in the 2011–12 season under the management of José Mourinho and with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo , Ángel Di María , Mesut Özil and Karim Benzema . Madrid won their 32nd La Liga title with

5456-473: The 2014–15 season Barcelona won their fifth Champions League title and Sevilla won their fourth Europa League , during the 2015–16 season Real Madrid won their eleventh Champions League title and Sevilla won their fifth Europa League (becoming the first team to win the title three times in a row), and during the 2017–18 season Real Madrid won their thirteenth Champions League title and Atlético Madrid won their third Europa League . In 2015, La Liga became

5580-425: The 2018–19 season, for eight La Liga titles in eleven years. Real Madrid reclaimed the title in 2019–20, winning the season that was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic . The 2020–21 season started on 12 September, and was won by Atletico Madrid, with Real Madrid as runners-up. In August 2021, La Liga clubs approved a €2.7 billion deal to sell 10% of the league to CVC Capital Partners . The 2021–22 season

5704-510: The 2023-24 season and for the following four seasons. Following the flash floods disaster that hit Spain at the end of October, claiming the lives of over 200 people, the Spanish league postponed all matches scheduled to be played in the Valencian region on Thursday. The games played after the floods opened in a moment of silence. 20 teams already contest the league in its current season, including

5828-551: The 60 ranked years up to 2019, more than any other country. It also has produced the continent's top-rated club more times (22) than any other league in that period, more than double that of second-placed Serie A (Italy), including the top club in 10 of the 11 seasons between 2009 and 2019; each of these pinnacles was achieved by either Barcelona or Real Madrid. La Liga clubs have won the most UEFA Champions League (20), UEFA Europa League (14), UEFA Super Cup (16) and FIFA Club World Cup (8) titles, and its players have accumulated

5952-490: The Copa del Generalísimo. While managing average league form in the early 1960s, Valencia had its first European success in the form of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (the forerunner to the UEFA Cup ), defeating Barcelona in the final of the 1961–62 edition . The following edition of the tournament pitted Valencia against Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb in the final, which the Spanish side also won. Valencia reached

6076-520: The UEFA Cup by Dynamo Kyiv on away goals. After a run where Valencia took only five points from ten games in La Liga, an announcement was made that the club had secured a loan that would cover the players' expenses until the end of the year. This announcement coincided with an upturn in form, and the club won six of its next eight games to surge back into the critical fourth place Champions' League spot. However, Los Che were then pushed down to sixth place in

6200-403: The assistant coach just one month prior. Valencia finished the season in twelfth place. In the summer of 2016, André Gomes and Paco Alcácer were both sold to Barcelona and Shkodran Mustafi was sold to Arsenal, while Ezequiel Garay and former Manchester United player Nani were brought in. Pako Ayestarán was sacked on 21 September 2016 after four straight defeats at the beginning of

6324-407: The books. In the first season of the new decade, Valencia returned to the Champions League for the first time since the 2007–08 campaign, as they finished comfortably in third place in the 2009–10 La Liga standings. However, in the summer of 2010, due to financial reasons, David Villa and David Silva were sold to Barcelona and Manchester City , respectively, to reduce the club's massive debt. Despite

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6448-434: The century in 2001 and 2003. With world-class players like Raúl , Ruud van Nistelrooy and Gonzalo Higuaín , Real Madrid won back-to-back La Liga titles in 2006–07 and 2007–08. Barcelona won their first title of the new century after Real Madrid and Valencia had shared the last four titles under the brilliance of Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o in the 2004–05 season. Barcelona retained the title to make it back-to-back wins in

6572-463: The championship on the right foot and were top of the league after ten games. After the Christmas break, however, Valencia started to pay for the top demand that such a draining competition like the Champions League requires. After passing the two mini-league phases, Héctor Cúper 's team eliminated English sides Arsenal in the quarter-finals and Leeds United in the semi-finals, reaching the final for

6696-607: The club and that he could not defend something he no longer believed in. Voro was named caretaker manager for the fifth time until the end of season, with Valencia in 17th position and in danger of relegation. However, results improved under Voro and he steered Valencia clear off relegation, ultimately finishing the season in 12th place. On 27 March, Mateu Alemany was named the new director general of Valencia. The club also announced club president Lay Hoon Chan had submitted her resignation and that she would be replaced by Anil Murthy . After rumors arose of Lim's attempts at selling

6820-406: The club began to decline in the mid-2010s. Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim acquired the team in 2014. Over the years, the club has achieved a global reputation for their prolific youth academy, or "Acadèmia ." Products of their academy include world-class talents such as Raúl Albiol , Javier Farinos , David Albelda , Vicente Rodríguez , Gaizka Mendieta and David Silva . Current stars of

6944-459: The club was a disappointment, however, as Valencia harboured realistic hopes of retaining their La Liga crown but, by February, found themselves in seventh place. Valencia had also been knocked out of the Champions League group phase, with Ranieri being sacked promptly in February. The 2004–05 season ended with Valencia outside of the UEFA Cup spots. In the summer of 2005, Getafe coach Quique Flores

7068-487: The club winning four out of its first five games, a surge that saw the team rise to the top position of the La Liga table. Despite looking impressive in Europe, Los Che then hit a poor run of form in the league that saw them dip as low as seventh in the standings. Amid the slump emerged reports of a massive internal debt at the club exceeding 400 million euros, as well as that the players had been unpaid for weeks. The team's problems were compounded when they were knocked out of

7192-598: The club's owner. Peter Lim's sons became club directors and Lay Hoon Chan returned as the club President. Valencia played its first years at the Algirós stadium, but moved to the Mestalla in 1923. In the 1950s, the Mestalla was restructured, which resulted in a capacity increase to 45,000 spectators. Today it holds 49,430 seats, making it the fifth largest stadium in Spain. It is also renowned for its steep terracing and for being one of

7316-472: The club), an agreement was reached in August 2014. Juan Antonio Pizzi was unexpectedly sacked as head coach and replaced by Nuno Espírito Santo on 2 July 2014. Later, Salvo revealed in an interview that hiring Nuno was one of the conditions Lim had insisted on when buying the club. This raised eyebrows in the media because of Nuno's close relationship with the football agent Jorge Mendes , whose first-ever client

7440-465: The club, Murthy assured the fans and local media that Valencia was a long-term project for both him and Lim, and they would not consider selling the club. For the following season, former Villarreal coach Marcelino was named the new manager on 12 May. After a successful first season under Marcelino, the club secured fourth place in La Liga and a return to the Champions League. In Marcelino's second season, Valencia again finished fourth and also reached

7564-445: The domestic Copa del Rey cup competition for the first time in its history. The Spanish Civil War halted the progress of the Valencia team until 1941, when it won the Copa del Rey, beating RCD Espanyol in the final. In the 1941–42 season, the club won its first Spanish La Liga championship title, although winning the Copa del Rey was more reputable than the championship at that time. The club maintained its consistency to capture

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7688-404: The end of the 2004 season, Valencia had one of their most successful periods in the club's history. With a total of two La Liga titles, a UEFA Cup , a Copa del Rey, and a UEFA Super Cup in those six years, no less than five first class titles and two Champions League finals had been achieved. That first match against fellow title rivals Real Madrid produced a significant and important victory. This

7812-505: The first league to enter five teams in the Champions League group stage , with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Valencia qualifying via their league position and Sevilla qualifying by virtue of their victory in the Europa League , courtesy of a rule change. In La Liga in 2020, each club is allowed five non-EU players but are only allowed to name three non-EU players in each matchday squad. Players can claim citizenship from

7936-403: The first team since Valencia in 2004 to win La Liga and break Barcelona and Real Madrid's dominion over the league. In the 2014–15 season, under the trio of Messi , Neymar , and Suarez nicknamed 'MSN', Barcelona made history by becoming the first team to achieve a second Treble, and winning a sixth Liga/Copa Del Rey double. Barcelona continued their dominance, and in the 2015–16 season they won

8060-465: The game to have graduated in recent years include Isco , Jordi Alba , Juan Bernat , José Gayà , Carlos Soler , Ferran Torres , and Lee Kang-in . The club was established on 5 March 1919 and officially approved on 18 March 1919, with Octavio Augusto Milego Díaz as its first president; incidentally, the presidency was decided by a coin toss . The club played its first competitive match away from home on 21 May 1919 against Valencia Gimnástico, and lost

8184-616: The good form that had made the club so admired on the European circuit. There were also some changes in the team and staff. Rafael Benítez , after helping Tenerife to promotion, replaced Héctor Cúper after the latter became the new coach at Inter in Italy . Among the playing squad, Gaizka Mendieta , Didier Deschamps , Luis Milla , and Zlatko Zahovič left, while Carlos Marchena , Mista , Curro Torres , Francisco Rufete , Gonzalo de los Santos , and Salva Ballesta all arrived. From 1999 up until

8308-453: The highest number of Ballon d'Or awards (24), The Best FIFA Men's Player awards (19) and UEFA Men's Player of the Year awards (12). La Liga is one of the most popular professional sports leagues globally, with an average attendance of 26,933 for league matches in the 2018–19 season. This is the eighth-highest of any domestic professional sports league in the world and the third-highest of any professional association football league in

8432-414: The last six world transfer records have been set by Real Madrid, signing Luís Figo , Zinedine Zidane , Cristiano Ronaldo (plus a deal for Kaká days before Ronaldo which fell just below a world record due to the way the fee was calculated) and finally Gareth Bale , who was bought in 2013 for £85.3m (€103.4m or $ 140m at the time; £123.5m in 2023) from Tottenham Hotspur . Brazilian forward Neymar

8556-421: The late 1940s, winning back to back La Liga titles in 1948 and 1949 . The 1940s proved to be a successful season for Barcelona, winning three La Liga titles and one Copa Del Rey, but the 1950s proved to be a decade of dominance, not just from Barcelona, but from Real Madrid . Although Atlético Madrid, previously known as ''Atlético Aviación'', were champions in 1950 and 1951 under mastermind Helenio Herrera ,

8680-420: The league following defeats to top four rivals Atlético Madrid and Villarreal in two of their final three games, meaning they failed to qualify for the Champions League for a second successive season. No solution had yet been found to address the massive debt Valencia was faced with, and rumors persisted that top talents such as David Villa , Juan Mata , and David Silva could leave the club to help balance

8804-429: The league title again in the 1943–44 season, as well as the 1946–47 league edition. They would conclude their decade of success by winning the 1949 Copa del Rey; this meant Valencia ended the decade with a record of three La Liga and two Copa del Rey titles. This success would help cement the club's name in Spanish football. In the 1950s, Valencia failed to emulate the success of the previous decade, even though it grew as

8928-570: The legendary Dream Team . When Cruyff took control of his Barcelona side, they had won only two La Liga titles in the past 20 years. Cruyff decided to build a team composed of international stars and La Masia graduates in order to restore Barcelona to their former glory days. This team was formed by international stars Romario , Michael Laudrup , Hristo Stoichkov and Ronald Koeman . Cruyff's Dream Team also consisted of La Masia graduates Pep Guardiola , Albert Ferrer and Guillermo Amor , as well as Basque Andoni Zubizarreta . Johan Cruyff changed

9052-515: The legendary Josep Samitier . A Spanish footballer for both Barcelona and Real Madrid, Samitier cemented his legacy with Barcelona. During his playing career with Barcelona he scored 133 goals, won the inaugural La Liga title and five Copa Del Rey . In 1944, Samitier returned to Barcelona as a coach and guided them in winning their second La Liga title in 1945 . Under Samitier and legendary players César Rodríguez , Josep Escolà , Estanislau Basora and Mariano Gonzalvo , Barcelona dominated La Liga in

9176-460: The loss of two of the club's most important players, the team was able to finish comfortably in third place again in the 2010–11 La Liga for the second season running, although they would be eliminated from the Champions League by German side Schalke 04 in the round of 16. In the summer of 2011, then-captain Juan Mata was sold to Chelsea to further help Valencia's precarious financial situation. It

9300-510: The managers of the time to carry out the first alterations of Mestalla in 1927. The stadium's total capacity increased to 25,000 before it became severely damaged during the Civil War; the Mestalla was used as a concentration camp and a junk warehouse. It would only keep its structure, since the rest was a lonely plot of land with no terraces and a stand broken during the war. Once the Valencian pitch

9424-524: The match 1–0. Valencia moved into the Mestalla Stadium in 1923, having played its home matches at the Algirós ground since 7 December 1919. The first match at Mestalla pitted the home side against Castellón Castalia and ended in a 0–0 draw. In another match the day after, Valencia won 1–0 against the same opposition. Valencia CF won the Regional Championship in 1923, and was eligible to play in

9548-469: The match went to a penalty shoot-out, where a Mauricio Pellegrino miss gave Bayern Champions League glory and dealt Valencia a second-straight defeat in the final. Valencia went on to slip to fifth place in La Liga and out of the Champions League positions for the 2001–02 season. Going into the final league match, Valencia only needed a draw at the Camp Nou against Barcelona to seal Champions League qualification. However, Los Che lost to Barcelona 3–2, with

9672-446: The most intimidating atmospheres in Europe. On 20 May 1923, the Mestalla pitch was inaugurated with a friendly match between Valencia and Levante UD . A long history has taken place on the Mestalla field since its very beginning, when the Valencia team was not yet in the Primera División . Back then, this stadium could hold 17,000 spectators, and at that time, the club started to show its potential in regional championships, which led

9796-531: The name 'L’equip de les cinc Copes' or The Team of the Five Cups. In the latter parts of the 1950s, coached by Helenio Herrera and featuring Luis Suárez , Barcelona won yet again back-to-back La Liga's, winning them in 1959 and 1960 . In 1959, Barcelona also won another double of La Liga / Copa Del Rey, conquering three doubles in the 1950s. The 1950s also saw the beginning of the Real Madrid dominance. During

9920-451: The nation their ancestors came from. If a player does not have European ancestry, he can claim Spanish citizenship after playing in Spain for five years. Sometimes, this can lead to a triple-citizenship situation; for example, Leo Franco , who was born in Argentina, is of Italian heritage yet can claim a Spanish passport, having played in La Liga for over five years. In addition, players from

10044-497: The new Carlos Tartiere stadium. The new stadium was closed off for one game after a game against Sporting de Gijón in the 2002–03 season . The game outside this stadium is not included in the stats. It was played at Estadio Román Suárez Puerta in Avilés in front of 1,500 fans against Levante in the last fixture of the season, when Oviedo had already dropped to Segunda División B. In addition, matches played behind closed doors due to

10168-407: The ninth team to be crowned champions. Valencia were one of the strongest teams in Europe in the early to mid 2000s; they were crowned La Liga champions in 2002 and 2004 under Rafael Benítez , whilst also being runners-up in the UEFA Champions League in 2000 and 2001 under Hector Cuper and winning the UEFA Cup in 2004 and the Copa del Rey in 1999. Real Madrid won their first Liga titles of

10292-593: The nucleus of the Real Madrid team that dominated the second half of the 1950s. Real Madrid won their third La Liga in 1954 — their first since 1933 — and retained their title in 1955. In 1956, Athletic Bilbao won their sixth La Liga title, but Real Madrid won La Liga again in 1957 and 1958. All in all, Barcelona and Real Madrid won four La Liga titles each in the 1950s, with Atlético Madrid winning two and Athletic Bilbao winning one during this decade. Real Madrid dominated La Liga between 1960 and 1980, being crowned champions 14 times. Real Madrid won five La Liga titles in

10416-412: The pitch is hard to maintain, due to its moist environment and lack of sunlight, especially during the winter. In addition, the large openings in the facade, which make it a cold stadium, are also subject to criticism, as well as its lack of color, with predominance of gray both inside, in the seating area, and outside, by the uncovered facade of concrete. Despite this, Emilio Llano, one of the architects of

10540-537: The playing squad was cut significantly in terms of quality and Lim's ownership has faced strong criticism in Valencia. In the 2021–22 season, José Bordalás was hired as head coach, following his five-season tenure with Getafe. Valencia reached the Copa del Rey final final in Bordalás' first season in charge, but lost to Real Betis on penalties following a 1–1 draw. In June 2022, Anil Murthy left after reportedly insulting

10664-459: The prestigious European Cup , contested by the various European domestic champions. Valencia reached the third round of the 1971–72 competition before losing both legs to Hungarian champions Újpesti Dózsa . In 1972 the club also finished runners-up both in La Liga and the domestic cup, losing to Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, respectively. The most notable players of the 1970s era include Austrian midfielder Kurt Jara , forward Johnny Rep of

10788-416: The quarter-finals of the Champions League by Inter Milan on away goals. The 2003–04 season saw Valencia trailing longtime leaders Real Madrid. In February, with 26 matches played, Madrid were eight points clear at the top of the table. However, their form severely declined in the late stage of the season, and consecutive losses in their last five games of the campaign allowed Valencia to overtake them and claim

10912-577: The ranking of Spain (and de facto La Liga) is second. In April 1928, José María Acha, a director at Arenas 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 . Arenas, Barcelona , Real Madrid , Athletic Bilbao , Real Sociedad and Real Unión were all selected as previous winners of

11036-404: The record was broken by his protégé Pep Guardiola two decades later. Barcelona's run ended with Real Madrid winning La Liga in 1995. Atlético Madrid won their ninth La Liga title in 1996, as well as their only Liga/Copa Del Rey double, before Real Madrid added another league title to their cabinet in 1997. After the success of Cruyff, another Dutchman – Ajax manager, Louis van Gaal – arrived at

11160-440: The remainder of the season. He went on to win the first match since the sacking of Koeman, beating Osasuna 3–0. Voro would eventually drag Valencia from the relegation battle to a safe mid-table finish of tenth place, finally ending a disastrous league campaign for Los Che . Highly rated Unai Emery was announced as the new head coach of Valencia on 22 May 2008. The start of the young manager's career looked to be promising, with

11284-441: The scene of the game, in order to gain focus. An early goal from Roberto Ayala and another close to half-time from Fábio Aurélio secured Valencia a fifth La Liga crown, 31 years after their last title win. The 2002–03 season was a disappointing one for Valencia, as they failed in their attempt to retain the La Liga title and ended up outside of the Champions League spots in fifth, behind Celta Vigo . They were also knocked out in

11408-433: The season in fourth place and were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals by Chelsea 3–2 on aggregate, after they had knocked out Italian champions Inter in the second round. In the summer of 2007, the internal fight between Flores and Carboni was settled, with Carboni being replaced by Ángel Ruiz as the new sporting director of Valencia. On 29 October 2007, the Valencia board of directors fired Flores after

11532-502: The second consecutive year. In the final match against Bayern Munich , played in Milan at the San Siro on 23 May, Gaizka Mendieta gave Valencia the lead by scoring from the penalty spot right at the start of the match. Goalkeeper Santiago Cañizares then stopped a penalty from Mehmet Scholl , but Stefan Effenberg drew Bayern level after the break thanks to another penalty. After extra time,

11656-547: The semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League , where they lost to eventual winners Sevilla on away goals, and finished eighth in La Liga despite a disastrous start to the season. In May 2014, Singaporean businessman Peter Lim was designated by the Fundación Valencia CF as the buyer of 70.4% of the shares owned by the club's foundation. After months of negotiations between Lim and Bankia (the main creditor of

11780-434: The semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League . On 25 May 2019, Valencia won the Copa del Rey , their first trophy since 2008, upsetting league winners Barcelona 2–1 in the final . Both Marcelino and sporting director Mateu Alemany , who were credited as the architects of this success, were fired on 11 September 2019 after the former publicly criticized Lim. He was replaced by the ultimately unsuccessful Albert Celades , who

11904-405: The stadium, has defended the stadium and claimed that "the problem could be in the grass and not in the subsoil". The first sold-out match was on 28 October 2001, in the first Asturian derby in the new stadium. Sporting de Gijón won that game by a score of 0–2. On 24 May 2009, Real Oviedo beat the attendance record in a Tercera División game with 27,214 spectators. It was in the first leg of

12028-523: The strongest clubs, winning several titles. Real Madrid and Barcelona dominated the championship in the 1950s, each winning four La Liga titles during the decade. During the 1960s and 1970s, Real Madrid dominated La Liga, winning fourteen titles, with Atlético Madrid winning four. During the 1980s and 1990s Real Madrid were prominent in La Liga, but the Basque clubs of Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad had their share of success, each winning two Liga titles. From

12152-421: The subsequent season's UEFA Champions League group stage. The fifth place team in La Liga and the winner of the Copa del Rey also qualify for the subsequent season's UEFA Europa League group stage. However, if the winner also finished in the top five places in La Liga, then this place reverts to the team that finished sixth in La Liga. Furthermore, the sixth place (or seventh if sixth already qualifies due to

12276-460: The title after a close fought race. Valencia would struggle for the next two seasons, but the 1998–99 La Liga season would signal the start of one of the club's most successful periods in their history; they lifted their first trophy in nineteen years by winning the 1998–99 Copa del Rey under Claudio Ranieri , and also qualified for the UEFA Champions League . Valencia started the 1999–2000 season by winning another title, beating Barcelona in

12400-426: The title, their second in three seasons. The club also added the UEFA Cup to this success, defeating Marseille 2–0 in the final . In the summer of 2004, manager Benítez decided to depart Valencia, stating he had had problems with the club president; he would soon become head coach of Liverpool . He was replaced by former Valencia coach Claudio Ranieri , who had recently been sacked by Chelsea . His second reign at

12524-539: The top 17 sides from the 2023–24 season and three promoted from the 2023–24 Segunda División . Leganés and Real Valladolid were promoted directly, and Espanyol won the promotion play-off . The Primera División is currently third in the UEFA rankings of European leagues based on their performances in European competitions over a five-year period, behind England's Premier League and Italy's Serie A , but ahead of Germany's Bundesliga and France's Ligue 1 . Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid have been in

12648-457: The top ten most successful clubs in European football in terms of total European trophies. These three clubs, along with Sevilla and Valencia, are the only Spanish clubs to have won five or more international trophies. Deportivo La Coruña are the joint fifth-most participating Spanish team in the Champions League with Sevilla — after Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Atlético Madrid — with five consecutive Champions League appearances, including

12772-403: The way modern football was played, and incorporated the principles of Total Football into this team. The success of possession-based football was revolutionary, and Cruyff's team won their first European Cup in 1992 and four consecutive La Liga titles between 1991 and 1994. In total, Cruyff won eleven trophies in eight years, making him the most successful manager in Barcelona's history, until

12896-671: The world, behind fellow big five leagues Bundesliga and Premier League , and above Serie A and Ligue 1 . La Liga is also the seventh wealthiest professional sports league in the world by revenue , after the NFL , MLB , the NBA , the Premier League , the NHL , and the Bundesliga . From 2008 to 2016, it was sponsored by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and known as Liga BBVA . Then, from 2016 to 2023, it

13020-539: Was Athletic Bilbao that set the early pace winning La Liga in 1930 , 1931 , 1934 and 1936 (in addition to four Copa trophies), and they also achieved the biggest win in La Liga history by beating Barcelona 12-1; This team, coached by Fred Pentland , is known by the nickname First historic squad , notably forming an attacking partnership with Bata , Guillermo Gorostiza , José Iraragorri , Chirri II and Lafuente . In 1935 , Real Betis , then known as Betis Balompié , won their only title to date. Primera División

13144-421: Was relegated at the end of the 1985–86 season, and riven with internal problems such as unpaid player and staff wages, as well as poor morale. The club was relegated for the first time after 55 years in Spanish top-flight football. Arturo Tuzón was named the new club president, and he helped steer Valencia back to La Liga. Alfredo Di Stéfano returned as coach in 1986 and Valencia won promotion again following

13268-437: Was Farinós for Inter Milan and Gerard for Barcelona. The notable signings of that summer were John Carew , Rubén Baraja , Roberto Ayala , Vicente Rodríguez , and Brazilian left-back Fábio Aurélio . That season Valencia also bought Pablo Aimar in the winter transfer window. Baraja, Aimar, Vicente, and Ayala would soon become a staple of Valencia's dominance of the early 2000s in La Liga. [REDACTED] Valencia started

13392-549: Was Nuno. Lim and Mendes were also close friends and business partners. Regardless, Nuno's first season was a successful one. Notable signings included Álvaro Negredo , André Gomes and Enzo Pérez , who had just won the Player of the Year in the Portuguese Primeira Liga . Valencia finished the 2014–15 season in fourth place, achieving Champions League qualification with 77 points, just one point ahead of Sevilla after

13516-399: Was also sold to Manchester City for a price deemed half his market value. Overall, Valencia sold players worth 85 million euros in order to rebalance the club's books. At the beginning of the season, the club was unable to pay the salaries to the remaining players. After six seasons under Peter Lim 's ownership, Valencia had accumulated losses of 323 million euros, In the following years,

13640-402: Was announced by club president Manuel Llorente that the club's debt had been decreased and that the work on the new stadium would restart as soon as possible, sometime in 2012. During the 2012–13 season , Ernesto Valverde was announced as the new manager, but after failing to qualify for the Champions League, he stepped down and was replaced by Miroslav Đukić . On 5 July 2013, Amadeo Salvo

13764-474: Was appointed as the new manager of Valencia and ended the season in third place, which in turn gained Valencia a place in the Champions League after a season away from the competition. The 2006–07 season was one with many difficulties; a campaign which started with realistic hopes of challenging for the title was disrupted with a huge list of injuries to key players, as well as internal arguments between Flores and new sporting director Amedeo Carboni . Valencia ended

13888-497: Was followed by a record of eleven consecutive wins, breaking their existing record set in the 1970–71 season, which was also the club's La Liga title win under Alfredo Di Stéfano . After a defeat in A Coruña against Deportivo on 9 December 2001, the team had to overcome Espanyol at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys to avoid further backsliding behind the league leaders. at half-time, Valencia were 2–0 down, but

14012-440: Was hired as his replacement on 2 December. Valencia went winless for nine matches before earning their first win under Neville in a 2–1 victory at home against Espanyol. On 30 March 2016, Neville was sacked after recording the lowest win percentage in La Liga history for a Valencia manager with minimum of five matches, winning just three out of sixteen games. He was replaced by Pako Ayestarán , who had been brought in by Neville as

14136-475: Was named as the new president of the club. Almost a month after Salvo was named president, on 1 August, Valencia sold star striker Roberto Soldado to English club Tottenham Hotspur for a reported fee of €30 million. Đukić was sacked six months into the 2013–14 season after just six wins in his first sixteen matches, Valencia's worst start to a season in fifteen years. He was replaced by Juan Antonio Pizzi on 26 December 2013. Under Pizzi, Valencia reached

14260-577: Was one of the clubs most affected by the war, since many of its players (sympathizers of the Republican faction ) went into exile in Latin America and very few returned. But thanks to a search for young talents, they managed to form the well-known Second historic squad made up of Rafael Iriondo , Venancio Pérez , José Luis Panizo , Agustín Gaínza and the mythical scorer Telmo Zarra (Spanish top scorer in La Liga history, among other records). They won

14384-618: Was renovated, the Mestalla stadium in which the team managed to bring home their first title in 1941. During the 1950s, the Valencia ground experienced the deepest change in its whole history. That project resulted in a stadium with a capacity of 45,500 spectators, that eventually saw destruction by a flood in October 1957 that arose from the overflowing of the Turia River . Nevertheless, the Mestalla not only returned to normality, but also some more improvements were added, like artificial light, which

14508-431: Was replaced by new coach José Manuel Rielo . The club's earlier successes continued to elude it, although it was not short of top coaching staff like Luis Aragonés and Jorge Valdano , as well as foreign star forwards like Brazilian Romário , Claudio López , Ariel Ortega from Argentina, and Adrian Ilie from Romania. In the 1995–96 La Liga season, Valencia finished second to Atlético Madrid , being unable to capture

14632-513: Was sacked due to poor results, while sporting director César Sánchez resigned that same season, making it six different managers and another six sporting directors by 2020. For the 2020–21 season, manager Javi Gracia was hired. He was put in charge of a team full of prospects and reserves after the club failed to sign any players during the summer transfer window, but sold key players such as captain Dani Parejo . Local wonderkid Ferran Torres

14756-408: Was sponsored by Banco Santander and known as LaLiga Santander . Since 2023, it has been sponsored by Electronic Arts and is known as LaLiga EA Sports . The competition format follows the usual double round-robin format. During the course of a season, which lasts from August to May, each club plays every other club twice, once at home and once away, for 38 matches. Teams receive three points for

14880-607: 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 Royal Spanish Football Federation (Spanish acronym RFEF) to recognise that title as a Liga title. This action

15004-436: Was taken after RFEF was asked to recognise Levante 's Copa de la España Libre win as equivalent to Copa del Rey trophy. Nevertheless, the governing body of Spanish football has not made an outright decision yet. When the Primera División resumed after the Spanish Civil War , it was Atlético Aviación (nowadays Atlético Madrid ), Valencia , and Barcelona that emerged as the strongest clubs. Atlético were only awarded

15128-421: Was the first player to join a club in La Liga for a record fee of £922,000 (£14.1 million in 2023), when he moved from Ajax to Barcelona. In 1982, Barcelona again set the record by signing Diego Maradona from Boca Juniors for £5 million (£22 million in 2023). Real Betis set the world record in 1998 when they signed Denílson from São Paulo for £21.5 million (£47.8 million in 2023). Four of

15252-568: Was the subject of an expensive and complicated transfer arrangement when he joined Barcelona from Santos in 2013, and his outgoing transfer to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 set a new world record fee at €222m via his buyout clause . Barcelona soon invested a large amount of the money received from this transfer in a replacement, Ousmane Dembélé , whose deal – €105m – was the second most expensive ever before Philippe Coutinho 's transfer to Barcelona for €142m in January 2018. Boldface indicates

15376-486: Was won by Real Madrid with four games to spare, while the 2022–23 season was won by Barcelona with four games to spare. In 2023, La Liga rebranded itself with a new logo and new sponsor. EA ( Electronic Arts ) replaced the Spanish financial services giant Santander that was the title sponsor of the league for seven years. LaLiga EA Sports and LaLiga Hypermotion are the names of the Primera and Segunda Divisions, starting in

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