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The 86th edition of Spain's top flight football, more popularly known as the LaLiga, kicks off this weekend.
The league coefficient of European football's governing body UEFA has adjudged the LaLiga to be the top league in Europe for the last five seasons, and for a record 22 times overall.
LaLiga clubs have won 18 Champions League, 11 Europa League / UEFA Cup and 15 Super Cup titles, which is the most by clubs from a single country.
A 20-club league since the 1997-98 season, a total of 62 clubs have graced the LaLiga since its inaugural edition in 1930-31.
Among nine clubs to have won the Spanish top flight title, Real Madrid (33) and Barcelona (26) have been the two most dominant champions. The duo, along with Athletic Bilbao, are the only clubs to have never been relegated from the LaLiga.
Record champions Real Madrid have a slew of standalone records in the Spanish top flight like most wins (1687), most away wins in a season (16), most consecutive away wins (13), most goals scored in a season (121), most home goals scored in a season (78) and most away goals scored in a season (58).
Barcelona have the records of most consecutive home wins (39) and most consecutive games to have scored in (64) in the Liga.
Along with Real Madrid, Barcelona share the Liga records for most points in a season (100), most wins in a season (32), most home wins in a season (18) and most number of consecutive wins (16).
Andoni Zubizaretta's 602 appearances is the most by a player in LaLiga history, while Raul's 550 appearances for Real Madrid is a record tally of appearances for a single club.
One of only two players to have scored 300 LaLiga goals, Cristiano Ronaldo being the other, Lionel Messi's 50 goals during the 2010-11 season is a league high.
On the cusp of the 2019-20 LaLiga season which gets underway this weekend, let's have a look at the top five scorers in the history of the competition.
#5 Raúl González (228 goals)
Raúl's 228 goals in 550 appearances for Real Madrid is the fifth best tally of goals by a player in LaLiga history.
During his 16 seasons at the Spanish capital club (1994-95 to 2009-10) Raúl twice won the Trofeo Pichichi, awarded for most goals in a LaLiga season.
Raúl is a six-time LaLiga winner. The Spanish striker's 550 appearances for Real Madrid is a record number of appearances for a single club.
#4 Hugo Sánchez (234 goals)
The Mexican scored 234 LaLiga goals for Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano, before moving outside Spain and continuing his goal-scoring exploits elsewhere.
Sánchez's most productive spell in the Liga came in seven seasons for Real Madrid, where he scored 164 goals for the capital club.
#3 Telmo Zarra (251 goals)
Telmo Zarra scored 251 LaLiga goals in 278 appearances for Athletic Bilbao during 15 seasons for the club from 1940-41 to 1954-55.
Zarra's six Trofeo Pichichi trophies is a LaLiga record shared only by Lionel Messi.
Zarra is the highest scoring Spaniard in the history of the Spanish top flight. The Zarra trophy, for the highest scoring Spanish player in a LaLiga season, is awarded in his memory.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo (311 goals)
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo is Real Madrid's all-time top scorer and only the second player in LaLiga history to rack up 300 goals.
Ronaldo's 311 goals came in just 292 appearances for Real Madrid from 2009-10 to 2017-18, giving the Portuguese striker the best strike rate of 1.07 among the Liga's top 10 all time scorers.
Ronaldo's six consecutive seasons (2010-11 to 2015-16) of scoring at least 30 goals is a LaLiga record, and the Portuguese has also scored a league-high 34 hat-tricks.
Ronaldo won two LaLiga titles during his nine-season stint with Real Madrid and bagged the Trofeo Pichichi (for most goals in a Liga season) thrice, which is third best in the history of the Liga.
The Portuguese's feat of 40 LaLiga goals in three different seasons is only equaled by one other player, the one who sits atop this list.
#1 Lionel Messi (419 goals)
Lionel Messi is the all-time top scorer in LaLiga history, with a tally of 419 goals in 452 appearances for Barcelona. He is the only active player in the Liga among the league's top 5 scorers.
Messi's 15 seasons (and counting) for Barcelona coincided with the Catalan club's most successful Liga spell, helping the club to 10 titles in the Spanish top flight.
The Argentinian's six Trofeo Pichichi awards (for most goals in a season) is the most in Liga history, along with Athletic Bilbao legend Telmo Zarra.
Messi has finished as the Liga top scorer in the last three seasons, and his tally of 33 Liga hat-tricks is only bettered by Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi's haul of 30 goals or more in 8 different seasons is a Liga record.
Messi's 50 goals in 2011-12 is the most in a Liga season. The Argentine also has the record of most assists (169) in the history of the LaLiga.
