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The Primera División (First Division) of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (LFP), commonly known as La Liga (The League) or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA (BBVA League) since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. It is contested by twenty teams, with the three lowest placed teams relegated to the Segunda División and replaced by the top three teams in that division. A total of 59 teams have competed in La Liga, nine of which have been crowned champions. Since the 1950s, Real Madrid and Barcelona have dominated the championship. The former have won the title thirty-one times while the latter have won it on twenty-one occasions. However, during the 1930s and 1940s and in the last two decades, La Liga has seen other champions including Atlético Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia, Real Sociedad, Deportivo, Real Betis and Sevilla . Barcelona have currently won the last three seasons of La Liga.
La Liga is currently ranked the best football league in the world according to the IFFHS and the second strongest league in Europe according to UEFA's league coefficient, based on recent European performances. La Liga is one of the most popular professional sports leagues in the world, with an average attendance of 29,124 for league matches in the 2008 � 09 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.
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