The Spanish Football League

The Spanish league is one of the most competitive in Europe and the Spanish teams considerable success in European competitions - Barcelona won the Champions League in 2006 and Sevilla won the UEFA Cup. Spain was never able to repeat the success of their clubs on an international level and the Spanish is a constant source of disappointment - Spain has won just one game in the European Cup in 2004 and failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Cup World 2006. The progress of the national team was not helped by the arrival of foreign stars in recent years (some are 150 in the first division only), which makes it difficult for promising young Spanish players a game.

The Spanish league is divided into three main divisions, two of which are subdivided into regional competitions. Division 1 (with 22 teams) and Division 2 are the national leagues. 2b Division is divided into four regional leagues (Central I, North II, III and IV in the east to the south) and Division 3 is comprised of local groups regionalized, for financial reasons. Spanish clubs will also compete in the Spanish Cup (Copa del Rey) and the European Cup (UEFA). Spanish football season is from September to June, with a break from Christmas Eve until the end of January. The matches are usually played on Sundays (sometimes Saturdays) of 17 hours, and night games (many of them on television) also held most weeks, starting as late as 21:30.

Generally, you must line up to buy tickets on match days, but tickets for the big games are sold in advance at the box stores El Corte Inglés in the country. Hooliganism and violence is rare in football stadiums and Spanish families can bring their children in safety matches, although incidents of violence are increasing, especially in "high risk" is, for example between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

There is a huge gap between the top clubs in Spain and the rest in all aspects of the game, at least in its early stages. Real Madrid and Barcelona (Barcelona) in the head and foot above the rest and as a great international success (websites of both clubs have Japanese language options!). Real Madrid play in the huge 130,000-seat Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, while Barcelona is the headquarters of 120,000 seats equally impressive Nou Camp. Outside the top handle of the clubs, attendance at many Premier League matches are low. A number of Premier League matches are broadcast live on television every week, invariably, the involvement (or both) Real Madrid or Barcelona, ​​and is expected in bars all over Spain.