La Liga vs Ligue 1: Two Competitive Rivals (with 1 clear winner)
January 27, 2023
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LaLiga is a Spanish private sports association composed of 20 soccer clubs that participate in the professional categories of the Spanish soccer league.
On the other hand, Ligue 1 is at the top of the French football league system, the country’s primary football competition.
In this article, I’ll explain the differences and main comparisons between these two leagues, takin into consideration the main metrics in football, like the UEFA coefficients, competitiveness, TV viewership, attendance, and much more!
Stay tuned because, after reading this article, you’ll understand why Spaniards brag about football so much. (Just kidding, I had to!)
Here’s a preview:
Table of Contents ▼ ▶
1. Compared Revenue Between LaLiga and Ligue 1
According to Statista, Ligue 1 generated an estimated revenue of 1.6 billion euros in the 2021/22 season. While LaLiga clubs together achieved a total revenue of 3,818 billion euros in the 2020/21 season.
That #Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance finds that over this COVID-hit 2020/21 season European #football market revenues rose by 10% is remarkable. A clear sign of the resilience of the industry and the tenacity of clubs
— Financial Sports® (@FinancialSs) August 18, 2022
Download here 👉 https://t.co/B3HFYEpu89 pic.twitter.com/BEjLLWozrL
Conclusion: La Liga
2. Average Match Attendance Between LaLiga and Premier League
The average attendance per match in the 2022/23 La Liga season was around 28,978 spectators. The combined total attendance was 2,897,560 in 178 matches. Whereas, for Ligue 1, the average attendance per game for the 2022/23 season was about 21,526. The total combined attendance was 753,078 across 190 matches. (Source.)
The match played between FC Barcelona, and Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol was the most attended match of the season, with 88,095 fans! As of Ligue 1, Olympique de Marseille vs. Lille OSC Métropole was the most attended game of the season, with 62,985 fans.
Conclusion: La Liga
3. TV Viewership
The viewership of La Liga has 75+ million viewers worldwide, and it is 2nd on the list after the Premier League. On the other hand, about 54 million people tuned in to watch Ligue 1 football on TV during the 2019-2020 season.
Conclusion: La Liga
4. UEFA Coefficients
LaLiga has been the best League in Europe from 2013 to 2019 and has led Europe for 22 of the 60 years ranked until 2019. Yes, it is more than any other country. Currently has 12.428 points while France has 10.916 points.
According to UEFA’s league coefficient rankings:
| Country | 2018/2019 | 2019/2020 | 2020/2021 | 21/22 | 22/23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 22.642 | 18.571 | 24.357 | 21.000 | 16.571 |
| Spain | 19.571 | 18.928 | 19.500 | 18.428 | 12.428 |
| Germany | 15.214 | 18.714 | 15.214 | 16.214 | 13.750 |
| Italy | 12.642 | 14.928 | 16.285 | 15.714 | 11.928 |
| France | 10.583 | 11.666 | 7.916 | 18.416 | 10.916 |
Conclusion: La Liga
UEFA competitions placing
The teams can qualify for UEFA competitions based on their performance in the league. Here’s the qualification in both groupes:
| Position | Ligue 1 | La Liga |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Champions League. Group Stage | Champions League. Group Stage |
| 2nd | Champions League. Group Stage | Champions League. Group Stage |
| 3rd | Champions League. Third Qualifying Round | Champions League. Group Stage |
| 4th | Europa League. Group Stage | Champions League. Group Stage |
| 5th | Europa Conference. League play-offs | Europa League. Group Stage |
| 6th | NA | Europa Conference. League play-offs |
5. Which is the most competitive championship, Ligue 1 or LaLiga?
Ligue 1 is not very competitive because PSG has a lot of money, and they can buy any player they want. Without considering that, big clubs like Lyon, Marseille, and Monaco are playing in. On the other hand, since 1929, only three teams have dominated the field in LaLiga matches, especially in the past twenty years: Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Atletico de Madrid.
So, in approximately 90 years, 72 have been dominated by the same three teams.
LaLiga gets attacked a lot for this reason. People say it’s only about Barça and Real Madrid. But I encourage you to watch LaLiga, you’ll see that the competition is much more challenging nowadays.
Of course, it’s different from other leagues like the Premier, where it is always very competitive. But smaller teams like Valencia Sevilla are becoming more competitive, and football is highly technical. Moreover, build-up play and possession over the ball and the game are more important. Also, the financial efforts of La Liga have helped to boost competitiveness since they use it for methodology, evaluation, and competition.
- Francisco, 24 years old. Real Madrid fan.
But, if you want to hear it from a professional, Leo Messi once told his opinion on the different leagues:
“It’s a league that is much more physical than LaLiga,”
“Here, the teams seem to me to be more powerful and the matches are very competitive, with not much space.”
“Most of the players are very strong.”
- Lionel Messi told France Football.
Conclusion: Both are pretty similar
6. Which league sells more TV rights?
Last season, La Liga generated a turnover of 2 billion euros in broadcasting rights for its twenty teams. A third of that amount went to the top three teams, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Atlético de Madrid. For its part, Ligue 1 generated €687 million from broadcasting.
Conclusion: La Liga
7. Average salary of players in LaLiga and Ligue 1
In LaLiga, the average player earns an annual salary of $2 million, with Gerard Pique being one of the best-paid players, earning $29 million yearly.
On the other hand, France spends (€1,586M.) Yes, even with the huge sums of Messi, Neymar, and Mbappé.
Here are the salaries of the most valuable teams in Ligue 1 and La Liga:
| Ranking | Ligue 1 | Average Annual / Player in Million Euros | LaLiga | Average Annual / Player in Euros |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris Saint German | $11.72 | Barcelona | $12.284.555 |
| 2 | Marseille | $1.78 | Real Madrid | $11.154.693 |
| 3 | Monaco | $1.64 | Atlético de Madrid | $7.039.205 |
| 4 | Lyon | $1.64 | Valencia | $3.123.873 |
| 5 | Nice | $1.06 | Sevilla | $2.466.863 |
Conclusion: La Liga
8. Average Goals per Game Between LaLiga and Ligue 1
In Ligue 1, the average goal per game is around 2.87. In contrast, La Liga scores 2.51 goals per game, according to statistics published by the global Opta network in 2022.
Conclusion: Ligue 1
9. Why LaLiga is better than Ligue 1?
LaLiga and Ligue 1 are two of the most important competitions in the European football season. Both involve the top 20 French and Spanish football teams.
However, the main differences between these two competing teams are their squad rules and Europa Conference League qualification. But one thing is clear, and it’s the fact that LaLiga is better than Ligue 1. Mainly because of the following reasons:
Ligue 1 has fewer great players than LaLiga in their team. The only ones would be Mbappé, Neymar, and Messi. In exchange, LaLiga has some of the best players in the world. Including Karim Benzema, Robert Lewandowski, Luka Modric, Ousmane Dembélé, and Toni Kroos. And these are just a few.
Spain has what many consider “the best teams of the world,” with teams such as FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid, or Sevilla.
Another reason LaLiga is better than Ligue 1 is that more people watch LaLiga than Ligue 1 because there are more important teams in LaLiga. People are fascinated to watch their teams play, especially in Spain, as football is the most popular sport. So, Ligue 1 is very popular but still less famous than LaLiga.
Also, LaLiga has more Champions League spots, as it has 4, compared with Ligue 1, which has 3. Furthermore, LaLiga has 5 Champions League semi-finalists; on the other side, Ligue 1 has 4.
| Season | Ligue 1 | La Liga |
|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | 1 (PSG) | 1 (Real Madrid) |
| 2019/20 | 2 (PSG and OL) | 0 |
| 2018/19 | 0 | 1 (Barcelona) |
| 2017/18 | 0 | 1 (Real Madrid) |
| 2016/17 | 1 (AS Monaco) | 2 (Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid) |
Based on a study conducted in the 2020/2021 season, La Liga winners received a higher amount of prize money (€158 million vs. €60 million).
Nevertheless, What’s very important is that the winners of both Ligue 1 and LaLiga will be guaranteed automatic qualification to the UEFA Champions League group stages.
So, there is one clear winner according to these eight metrics: La Liga from Spain.
