LaLiga salary caps: Real Madrid set highest cap as Barcelona's budget slashed due to coronavirus crisis
The severe financial impact of the coronavirus on Spanish clubs became clearer this Tuesday as LaLiga announced the salary caps for the 2020/21 season.
Having informed the clubs of the Primera and Segunda divisions last Thursday on the maximum amount they can spend on the cost of their squads during the 2020-21 season, LaLiga have shared those figures with the media this Tuesday morning.
With most clubs heavily impacted by the financial fallout due to the coronavirus crisis, LaLiga president Javier Tebas has said that the Spanish teams must, in total, cut more than €500 million from their sporting staff budgets.
LaLiga pointed out that the clubs have collectively made about half of last season’s income as a result of lost ticket sales, with games having been played behind closed doors since the return to play in June following the coronavirus lockdown.
"We have made changes in three parts of the financial control norms and in our regulations and statutes due to Covid,” said José Guerra, LaLiga's General Director, at a media briefing on Tuesday.
“It has been an unexpected impact and we must adapt to it so that the clubs can adjust. The sanctions have also been modified. We need time to continue adapting ourselves to the situation.”
SALARY LIMITS FOR 2020/21 SEASON (in millions of euros)
| TEAM | 2020-21 | 2019-20 | 2018-2019 |
| Real Madrid | 468,53 | 641,05 | 566,5 |
| Barcelona | 382,72 | 671,43 | 632,9 |
| Atlético Madrid | 252,72 | 348,5 | 293 |
| Sevilla | 185,81 | 185,17 | 162,7 |
| Villarreal | 145,24 | 108,59 | 109,1 |
| Athletic Bilbao | 119,82 | 103,18 | 87,8 |
| Valencia | 103,4 | 170,67 | 164,6 |
| Real Sociedad | 100,88 | 81,13 | 80,8 |
| Betis | 71,3 | 100,35 | 97,1 |
| Celta | 62,53 | 62,12 | 50,9 |
| Granada | 56,48 | 35,46 | 9,5 |
| Getafe | 52,59 | 56,28 | 39,2 |
| Valladolid | 49,36 | 32,03 | 23,8 |
| Osasuna | 46,64 | 38,69 | 11,1 |
| Eibar | 42,7 | 47,12 | 41,2 |
| Alavés | 42,03 | 49,77 | 39,1 |
| Cádiz | 41,03 | 9,73 | |
| Levante | 37,61 | 54,6 | 52,3 |
| Huesca | 37,06 | 17,04 | |
| Elche | 34,6 | 5,62 | 4,68 |
Barcelona, Real Madrid salary limits
Barcelona, which is one of the clubs that has been most impacted by the crisis and recently began talks with its players on reducing their salaries by 30%, has been set a salary limit of €382 million. To put that in context: in February 2020, when LaLiga published the last update on salary caps, Barcelona’s budget was €656.43 million; while in September 2019 it was €671.43 million.
Meanwhile Real Madrid, which has traditionally occupied second place after Barcelona in the salary expenditure ranking, has the highest salary cap of €468.53 million; while Atlético Madrid’s budget is around €252 million. The club that can spend the least in La Primera is Elche, whose limit is €34.6 million, followed by Espanyol, with a budget of €45 million.