Last updated on January 22nd, 2022
If you’ve been following the top leagues in European football, you may have noticed that there are a few popular ones, including the Ligue 1 and La Liga.
How are these 2 competitions different, and which one is better?
Here’s what you need to know:
The difference between Ligue 1 and La Liga
Ligue 1 and La Liga involve the top 20 teams in French and Spanish football respectively. Both of these competitions mainly differ in terms of their squad rules and Europa Conference League qualification.
Here is a comparison between these 2 competitions:
Number of teams involved
Both Ligue 1 and La Liga include 20 teams in the league. This is similar to the other top leagues in Europe, including:
The only top European league that does not have 20 teams is the Bundesliga, which only has 18 teams in their league.
Origin of teams
The teams in Ligue 1 originate from France, while those in La Liga originate from Spain.
Here are some of the top teams from each country that have been playing in these leagues:
Since both of these countries are UEFA nations, teams from these countries will be able to participate in the Champions League.
Frequency and duration of competitions
Both competitions have a similar schedule, where they will start in August, and then end in May.
This is similar to the other top European leagues as well.
Both Ligue 1 and La Liga usually has a 2-week winter break. This normally starts in mid-December, and the competition will resume in the first week of January.
Format of competition
Both Ligue 1 and La Liga follow a double round-robin league format. Each team will play against the other 19 clubs in the league, for a total of 38 matches.
Squad size
The squad rules are not really clear for the squads in Ligue 1. However, in Football Manager, it was stated that a squad can register a maximum of 4 non-EU players.
Meanwhile, La Liga will have a squad size at 23.
Qualification for competition
For Ligue 1, the bottom 2 teams will be relegated, and the top 2 teams from Ligue 2 will be promoted.
The 17th placed team in Ligue 1 (17th placed) will compete with the 3rd-placed team in Ligue 2 in a relegation playoff match.
This is a 2-legged match where the first match is played at the home of the Ligue 1 side, while the second leg is played at the home of the Ligue 2 side.
The promotion from the Segunda División (tier 2 of Spanish football) to La Liga is similar to that of Ligue 1. The top 2 teams will automatically qualify for La Liga.
Meanwhile, the third promotion spot will be decided in the promotion play-offs, where the 3rd-6th placed teams will compete in this mini-competition.
However, you may want to note that ‘B’ teams can’t be promoted to La Liga if their senior team is already in the league!
UEFA competitions placing
Your team will be eligible to qualify for UEFA competitions, based on how they perform in the league. The qualification is the different for both competitions:
| 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 |
This means that La Liga has more Champions League spots (4) compared to Ligue 1 (3).
However, this is not considering the slot that is reserved in the Europa League for the cup winners. In the event that 6th place wins the domestic cup (Coupe de la Ligue or Copa del Rey), they will qualify for the Europa League and not the Europa Conference League.
The Europa Conference League play-off spot will be given to the next highest team that has not qualified for a European competition yet.
Rewards for winning competition
Here are the rewards your team will receive when they win either competition:
| Ligue 1 | La Liga | |
|---|---|---|
| Prize Money | Lower | Lower |
| Qualification for next season’s Champions League | Yes | Yes |
| Qualification for Super Cup | Trophée des Champions | Supercopa de España |
When comparing the 2020/21 prize money that the winners received in Ligue 1 and La Liga, La Liga winners received a higher amount of prize money (€158 million vs €60 million).
Furthermore, the winners of both Ligue 1 and La Liga will be guaranteed automatic qualification to the UEFA Champions League group stages.
In terms of the Super Cup competitions that they play, the champions of Ligue 1 will play against the Coupe de la Ligue winners in the Trophée des Champions.
Meanwhile, the champions of La Liga will play against the Copa del Rey winners in the Supercopa de España.
Dominance of teams
In this section, we will be looking at the past winners of these 2 leagues since the 2011/12 season:
| Ligue 1 | La Liga |
|---|---|
| PSG (7) | Barcelona (5) |
| Monaco (1) | Real Madrid (3) |
| Lille (1) | Atletico Madrid (2) |
| Montpellier (1) | – |
In Ligue 1, it has mainly been dominated by PSG, who has won 7 out of the 10 possible trophies.
Meanwhile, the La Liga title has been sort of evenly shared out among Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.
Champions League performances
In this section, we will see how the clubs from these leagues have performed in the Champions League. This is the best indicator of how well the league is as a whole, since the Champions League is a competition between the top European clubs.
To make a fairer comparison, I will be looking at the semi-finalists for the past 5 years that come from either league:
| 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) |
La Liga has more Champions League semi-finalists (5) compared to Ligue 1 (4).
Verdict
Here is a summary of the comparison between these 2 leagues:
| Ligue 1 | La Liga | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of teams | 20 | 20 |
| Origin of teams | France | Spain |
| Frequency | Annually | Annually |
| Duration | 10 months | 10 months |
| Format | Double round-robin | Double round-robin |
| Number of matches | 38 | 38 |
| Squad size | Maximum 4 non-EU players | 23 |
| Qualification | Top 2 from Ligue 2 3rd in Ligue 2 has a playoff with 18th in Ligue 1 | Top 2 teams from Segunda División Playoffs between 3rd to 6th place |
| Champions League Spots | 3 | 4 |
| Prize Money | Lower | Lower |
| Qualification for next season’s Champions League | Yes | Yes |
| Qualification for Super Cup | Trophée des Champions | Supercopa de España |
| Dominance of teams | Mainly PSG | Equally shared among Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atlético Madrid |
| Champions League performances (semi-finals) | 4 semi-finalists in the last 5 years | 5 semi-finalists in the last 5 years |
Conclusion
Ligue 1 and La Liga are 2 of the top footballing competitions in the European football season.
Based solely on the Champions League performances, La Liga takes the slight edge!
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