Since the European Cup was first held in the 1950s, and through its transformation into the modern Champions League, Spanish clubs — and Real Madrid above all — have built one of the most successful records in the competition’s history. Real Madrid won the very first European Cup in 1956 and has added to that tally many times since, giving the club a record haul of European titles that no rival has matched.
Barcelona and other La Liga clubs have added further continental success across different eras, reinforcing La Liga’s reputation as one of the strongest pipelines of European-winning football anywhere on the continent, and a major reason the league is followed so closely outside Spain itself.