Who has won more LaLiga titles: Real Madrid or Barcelona?

The first Clásico of the 2023/24 LaLiga season is upon us, as Barcelona host Real Madrid at 10.15 a.m. ET on Saturday, 28 October. For Real Madrid and Barcelona, this is the first chance to land a direct blow on their biggest rivals in the campaign to lift the LaLiga trophy at the end of the season. Coming into the match Real Madrid are on 25 points and Barcelona are on 24, both having played 10 matches.

Right now Real Madrid have won 35 league titles to Barcelona’s 27. Here’s how they built those tallies.

How far ahead were Barça in 2022-23?

La Blaugrana managed to pull off something of an unlikely domestic victory in 2022-23 to take their total league wins to 27, as they seemingly staggered from one crisis to another off the field, and weren’t overly impressive on it. Yet Xavi Hernández’s side got the job done in emphatic fashion, coming out on top ahead of Los Blancos with 10 points and several matches to spare.

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Madrid began strongly last season before fading either side of the World Cup break, which, of course, will not be in play this time around.

La Blaugrana away from Camp Nou all season

Barça, this season are having to play the entire season away from home. Parts of Camp Nou are probably being demolished as you read this, and they’ve temporarily moved across town to Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Montjuïc, the main venue at the 1992 Olympic Games which has barely been used in recent years. What’s the opposite of home advantage?

Real Madrid: Spain’s first dominant force

For as long as almost anyone can remember (Barcelona were the first of the two clubs to win a LaLiga title in 1929), Real Madrid have led the way in terms of domestic championship wins. The capital side were the dominant force in Spanish soccer from the 1950s right through to the 1980s, and in 1990 had won 25 leagues to Barcelona’s 10.

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Barcelona catching Real Madrid’s LaLiga title tally

However, in the last three decades, there has been a something of a shift in the balance of power, with the LaLiga trophy heading to Catalonia on 17 occasions in the intervening 33 years. Real Madrid have won only 10 titles in that time, including just two in the 2010s, a decade in which they won five Champions Leagues.

Los Blancos continue to lead the way with 35 league victories to Barcelona’s 27, but it’s a much closer fight than it was until relatively recently.