La Liga is one of the most competitive football leagues in the world but for the majority of its history, it has been dominated by only a handful of clubs. In fact, over the past 17 seasons, only Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have topped the table come the end of the season with Valencia having a short spell at the top and claiming victory in two of the three seasons prior.
The reason those three teams have dominated La Liga in recent years is due to the vast sums of money they have available to attract the world’s top players. This is especially true with Barcelona and Real Madrid who have substantially greater funds available compared to the likes of Espanyol, Grenada, Celta Vigo and Osasuna. Players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar, Ronaldo (Brazilian), Fernando Torres, Raul, Andres Iniesta, Roberto Carlos, Xavi and others have all featured in La Liga over the years and have helped shape it into one of the best football leagues in the world.
The gap in quality between clubs in La Liga is clear to see when we look at the odds available on each side to win the league as seen below.
La Liga 2021/22 Outright Winner Odds
- Barcelona – 6/4
- Real Madrid – 7/4
- Atletico Madrid – 4/1
- Sevilla – 25/1
- Real Sociedad – 66/1
- Villareal – 100/1
- Real Betis – 175/1
- Athletico Bilbao – 275/1
- Celta Vigo – 500/1
- Valencia – 750/1
- Grenada – 750/1
- Osasuna – 100/1
- Getafe – 1000/1
- Espanyol – 1000/1
- Alaves – 1500/1
- Mallorca – 2000/1
- Levante – 2000/1
- Cadiz – 2000/1
- Elche – 2500/1
As you can see, once you look beyond the top three clubs, the odds dramatically increase from 4/1 for Atletico Madrid to win to 25/1 for Sevilla. However, Sevilla only finished 9 points adrift of last season’s winners Atletico Madrid and so an upset isn’t out of the question. With only a select few teams in with a chance of realistically winning La Liga, title challenges can often come down to head-to-heads between the top teams.
People from around the world will be betting on the outright winner of La Liga for the coming season which kicks off on Friday 13th August. As well as in Spain, sports betting in Canada is very big and the UK is also one of the main markets for betting on football.
So, which team will win La Liga in the 2021/22 season?
Smart money will be going on the top three teams given that no other side has won it since the 2003/04 season.
Atletico will be looking to win consecutive La Liga titles for the first time since 1951 and they’re priced at 4/1 to do so. They’re extremely solid defensively which is their main advantage and have been linked with Argentine forward Lautaro Martínez who bagged 17 goals in 38 matches for Inter Milan last season.
Barcelona are always in the running for the La Liga title and are the bookies’ favourites to win it for the 27th time this coming season. However, there are concerns within the club, namely with the future of star player Lionel Messi being up in the air. The club is also reported to be in financial difficulty which could force them to let go other key players such as Antoine Griezmann.
However, you can never write Barcelona off and should Messi remain at the club, he’ll partner up with new additions to the squad with Sergio Aguero joining the club from Manchester City and Memphis Depay signing from Ligue 1 club Lyon. Both of who are world class players.
Real Madrid have won La Liga more than any other club, claiming the title a record-breaking 24 times. They’ve only topped the table 3 times in the past 13 seasons but the bookies fancy them to be in with a chance of claiming the title back from Atletico having priced them at 7/4.
The departure of Sergio Ramos to PSG will be a huge blow for Real heading into the new season. The verteran defender has been with the club for 16 years and has been a key player throughout his time at the club. Madrid also haven’t brought in any big names during the summer which may concern fans, along with the possible departure of Eden Hazard who has failed to find the form that he displayed at Chelsea since joining the club. They are linked with Kylian Mbappe who would be a superb signing from PSG but with no deal confirmed and the season fast approaching, time may be running out to put pen to paper.
