![\"LaLiga](\"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/malaysia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-14-at-11.11.01-PM-800x500.jpg\")
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The 2019\/20\u00a0LaLiga\u00a0Santander season is, almost a third of the way into the campaign, shaping up to be the tightest in a generation,\u00a0confirming its status as\u00a0the most competitive of Europe\u2019s top five leagues.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Thirteen games into the season, five teams \u2013 FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico de Madrid, Sevilla FC and Real Sociedad \u2013 are separated at the top by just\u00a0two\u00a0points. Three different teams led the\u00a0LaLiga\u00a0Santander table at different moments over\u00a0the most recent matchday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The idea that any team can beat any other team on any given day is borne out on the pitch on a weekly basis. Granada CF, newly promoted from\u00a0LaLiga\u00a0SmartBank, and Levante UD have already beaten the likes of reigning champions Barcelona this season,\u00a0with Granada\u00a0even leading the standings for a time. Another recently promoted side, CA Osasuna, are banging on the door of the European spots and boast an incredible unbeaten home record which stretches almost 18 months and 31 games back. Real Sociedad have put together a young squad featuring the likes of homegrown Spain international Mikel\u00a0Oyarzabal, Norwegian wonderkid Martin\u00a0\u00d8degaard\u00a0and promising Alexander\u00a0Isak, putting them in a position to challenge the top sides while RCD Mallorca, the third of this season\u2019s newly-promoted sides, have already deservedly beaten the likes of Real Madrid and Villarreal.<\/p>\n Leaders Barcelona have picked up 66% of all possible points this season, reflecting just how equal the competition is and how difficult it is to break away from the pack in\u00a0LaLiga\u00a0Santander today. The statistics cannot say the same about the rest of Europe\u2019s top five leagues, where Liverpool (94% of possible points), Juventus (88%), PSG (77%) and Borussia Monchengladbach\u2019s (75%) points tallies suggest a different picture in England, Italy, France and Germany.<\/p>\n The factors behind this almost historic degree of competitivity\u00a0in\u00a0LaLiga\u00a0are\u00a0many. But two medium-to-long-term factors\u00a0have been essential.\u00a0Firstly,\u00a0LaLiga\u2019s\u00a0financial control regulations put in place\u00a0from 2013 onwards\u00a0have put clubs in a position to\u00a0experience solid, sustainable growth. The \u2018boom and bust\u2019 cycles which saw clubs fluctuate dramatically in performance in line with their financial situation are a\u00a0remnant\u00a0of the past, allowing teams from the top to bottom of\u00a0LaLiga\u00a0to attract international stars like\u00a0never before.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Secondly, the centralised sale of TV broadcast rights which began in 2015 have transformed the financial realities of almost all\u00a0LaLiga\u00a0clubs, ensuring that the league\u2019s rapidly growing broadcast income \u2013 which is up from \u20ac600 million in 2015 to \u20ac1.865 billion today \u2013 is more evenly spread across its clubs. Clubs like Athletic Club, for example,\u00a0have seen their broadcast incomes rocket from \u20ac17 million\u00a0to \u20ac71 million in just a few years, while others such as Real Betis have seen their relative power in the market increase to the point to which they\u00a0could\u00a0beat a host of top European sides to the\u00a0acquisition\u00a0of French World Cup winner Nabil\u00a0Fekir\u00a0from Lyon this\u00a0past\u00a0summer.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/malaysia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-14-at-11.16.31-PM-800x500.jpg\")
And the five\u00a0points which separate the teams in a European qualification place \u2013 from Barcelona in first to Getafe seventh \u2013 after thirteen games is the lowest in a quarter of a century. The previous record of six points was set back in 1998\/99, a season in which a Barcelona side captained by a certain Pep Guardiola ran out eventual winners.<\/p>\n