Athletic Bilbao in the context of "2011–12 FC Barcelona season"

The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest level of the Spanish football league system. It is controlled by the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional and is contested by 20 teams over a 38-matchday period.

Since its inception, 62 teams have competed in La Liga, with nine teams crowned champions. Real Madrid and Barcelona have dominated the competition, winning 36 and 28 titles respectively. In the 1940s, Valencia, Atlético Madrid, and Barcelona emerged as the strongest clubs. Real Madrid and Barcelona led the charge in the 1950s, each winning four titles. During the 1960s and 1970s, Real Madrid dominated with fourteen titles, with Atlético Madrid winning four. During the 1980s and 1990s, Real Madrid remained prominent, while the Basque clubs of Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad enjoyed success, each winning two titles. From the 1990s onward, Barcelona have been the most successful club, winning seventeen titles, with Real Madrid close behind. La Liga has seen other champions, including Valencia and Deportivo La Coruña.

The 2011–12 La Liga season (known as the Liga BBVA for sponsorship reasons) was the 81st season of the top level Spanish association football competition. The campaign began on 27 August 2011, and concluded on 13 May 2012. Real Madrid won a record 32nd title following victory over Athletic Bilbao on 2 May 2012.

Real Madrid broke a number of league records, including most points in a single season (100), most goals scored (121), best goal difference (+89), most away wins (16), and most overall wins (32). This season also saw Lionel Messi score a record 50 league goals in 37 games. Behind Messi was Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored 46 goals; the pair's combined tally of 96 goals was the most ever by two players playing in the same major European league in the same season.

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol is a Spanish professional association football club based in Madrid. The club was formed in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, and played its first competitive match on 13 May 1902, in the Copa de la Coronación semi-final. Real Madrid currently plays in the Spanish top-tier La Liga, having become one of the founding members of that league in 1929, and is one of three clubs, the others being Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, to have never been relegated from the league. They have also been involved in European football ever since they became the first Spanish club to enter the European Cup in 1955, except for the 1977–78 and 1996–97 seasons.

This list encompasses the major honours won by Real Madrid and records set by the club, their managers and their players. The player records section includes details of the club's leading goalscorers and those who have made most appearances in first team competitions. It also records notable achievements by Real Madrid players on the international stage, and the highest transfer fees paid and received by the club.

Futbol Club Barcelona is a professional association football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded by a group of Swiss, German, English and Catalan footballers led by Joan Gamper, the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism, hence the motto "Més que un club" (More than a club). The official Barça anthem is the "Cant del Barça", written by Jaume Picas and Josep Maria Espinàs. Unlike many other football clubs, the socis, who are the members and supporters of the club, own and operate Barcelona. It is the world's fourth richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €800.1 million in the 2022–23 season.

Barcelona played its first friendly match on 8 December 1899 against the English colony in Barcelona in the old velodrome in Bonanova. Initially, Barcelona played against other local clubs in various Catalan tournaments. In 1929, the club became one of the founding members of La Liga, Spain's first national league, and has since achieved the distinction of being one of only three clubs to have never been relegated, along with Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. Barcelona is also the only European club to have played continental football every season since 1955. They hold a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid, with matches between the two teams referred to as "El Clásico" (El Clàssic in Catalan). Matches against city rivals Espanyol are known as the "Derbi barceloní".

The 2014–15 season was Futbol Club Barcelona's 116th in existence and the club's 84th consecutive season in the top flight of Spanish football. This was the first of the three seasons under head coach Luis Enrique.

The season was one of the most successful ones in the club's history, as Barcelona clinched its second continental treble after winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. The league title was won in a closely fought title race with Real Madrid, while the Copa victory was achieved with a brilliant 3–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou in the final. In the Champions League, Barcelona overcame Bayern Munich (3–0 home, 2–3 away) to set up the final against Juventus in Berlin, where Barça triumphed 3–1. Barcelona's success may be in large part attributed to their formidable attacking trio composed of Lionel Messi, Neymar, and summer signing Luis Suárez, who scored a record 122 goals in all competitions to become the trio with most goals in a single season in Spanish football history.

Football is the most popular sport in Spain, with 61% of the population interested in it. Spain has some of the most influential teams in Europe (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, and others) as well as many players (mostly unprofessional) and teams registered in all categories (1,063,090 players in 21,148 clubs). Moreover, football is the sport that interests the majority of Spanish people (48%) and a total of 67% of the population said they were fans of or had a liking for a particular club.

In a survey of the sports habits of the Spanish population made in 2010, football was ranked as the second most popular recreational sport practiced by the population (17.9%). 75.9% said they had purchased tickets to a football match. In addition, 67.3% of the people said they saw all, almost all, many, or some of the football matches broadcast on television. In another survey undertaken in 2014, football practice decreased to 14% of the population, being overtaken by other sports such as running, cycling, and swimming for recreation. However, in this survey, football was still the sport that interested most of Spain's people (48%). 67% of the population said they were fans of or sympathized with a particular club. In addition, 74.9% said they watched, whenever possible, the matches broadcast on television regarding their favourite teams, and 42.4% had flags, badges, or objects of their favourite teams. Data from this survey confirmed the widespread impression that most of Spain's people are supporters of Real Madrid (32.4%) or FC Barcelona (24.7%), and the other teams have fewer supporters nationwide, such as Atlético de Madrid (16.1%), Valencia CF (3.5%), Athletic Bilbao (3.3%), or Sevilla FC (3.2%).