EUROPEAN SOCCER The European soccer season is broken down into different levels of competition It can be confusing to keep track of it all Here’s a handy guide to help you follow the action League Play The 20 best teams in Spain play in La Liga Teams play all league opponents twice each season for 38 total games The three teams with the worst records are relegated or sent down to the second division which sends its top three teams up to replace them the next season European Play The top three teams in La Liga qualify for the group stage of the Union of European Football Associations UEFA Champions League This annual tournament involves the best teams from the top leagues throughout Europe The Champions League debuted in 1992 It replaced the European Cup a similar tournament that began in 1955 The fourth place team enters Champions League play in the qualifying round The next two teams from La Liga qualify for the UEFA Europa League The Europa League is Europe’s second-tier tournament It runs in a similar manner to the Champions League but crowns its own winner The Europa League debuted in 1971 as the UEFA Cup but was renamed in 2009 Domestic Cups Teams from the top four levels of Spanish soccer are eligible to play in the Copa del Rey or King’s Cup Founded in 1903 the tournament is the oldest in Spain The winning team automatically qualifies for the Europa League It also faces the champion of La Liga in the Supercopa de Espana Spanish Super Cup 6
strong teams of their own Neighbors Atlético Madrid pulled away to the 2013 14 league title Barcelona finished second It was a disappointing end to the season for Real But Los Blancos had a chance to make up for the disappointment with a strong showing in the Champions League The club had once dominated that competition but by 2013 14 it had been 13 seasons since its most recent title And while Real struggled through its 2013 14 La Liga season the team was rolling in the Champions League Ancelotti’s team stormed through the group stage undefeated scoring 20 goals and allowing only five Ronaldo scored seven goals in Real’s first three matches Real easily moved on to the round of 16 Win or Go Home In the knockout stage Real crushed Schalke of Germany’s FAST FACT Real Madrid won another major trophy in 2013 14 It beat rival Barcelona 2 1 in the final of the Copa del Rey Bundesliga by a two-game total score of 9 2 Ronaldo scored four of the goals Another German foe Borussia Dortmund was up next In the first game Bale and Ronaldo scored in 7
8 a 3 0 shutout In the second leg Real suffered its first loss of the tournament But it was only by 2 0 meaning Real still won by a 3 2 total score Real faced yet another German squad Bayern Munich in the semifinals Karim Benzema's goal held up as Real eked out a 1 0 win in the first leg Los Blancos left no doubt in the second game routing Bayern 4 0 Two Ronaldo goals put the game out of reach It was on to the final in nearby Lisbon Portugal The road between Madrid and Lisbon was busy that week That's because not only had Real Madrid qualified but so had Atlético Madrid The rivals had played each other more than 200 times with Real usually coming out on top But Atlético was a team on the rise and would put up a fight Rivals Rumble Real looked to be up to the task early dominating possession and creating scoring chances But Atlético struck first Diego Godín's header in the 36th minute sent Real into halftime trailing 1 0 Real's supporters rallied the team in the second half Los Blancos continued Cristiano Ronaldo came up big in the Champions League knockout rounds
