What was the biggest points difference ever recorded by a league champion in Spain?

There might be three more match days left in La Liga’s campaign, but the title has already been decided. Barcelona secured their 29th La Liga title on Sunday night and they did it against their arch rivals in front of their own fans. With the title in hand, now the Blaugrana can focus on setting the top flight record for biggest points difference between the league winner and the runner up.

Vilanova’s Barca the best ever?

Barcelona took advantage of a rare chance to not just beat their rivals but to beat their rivals on their home turf and celebrate winning the league title with three match days to go. It was a rare chance for a trifecta of celebrations for the blaugrana, and the party will go long into the night but once the confetti is cleaned and the champagne is finished they will have a chance to make La Liga history.

The win on Sunday puts Barcelona at 91 points this season. They have won 30 matches, drawn 1 and lost four. They have won 11 league matches in a row after the win in El Clasico, and now Hansi Flick’s side are up 14 points on second placed Real Madrid. That puts them in the hunt for the record of the largest points difference between the winners and the runners up.

A 100 points and 15 point cushion

The record was set by Barcelona back in the 2012-13 season with Tito Vilanova’s team that won the league with a comfortable cushion of 15 points. They finished with 100 points, which tied the record set by Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid the year before. Vilanova’s Barcelona not only set the record for most points in a league campaign, but the record for biggest lead over the runners up at the end of the season.

That year they were wire-to-wire winners, having held on to the top spot in the table from round 1 until round 38. They wrapped up the league on match day 35, but it wasn’t a win from the Cule’s that secured the title. It was a Real Madrid draw against Espanyol that mathematically eliminated Los Blancos before Barcelona even suited up that weekend.

That was the year after Pep Guardiola left the Catalan club and Villanueva took over. Lionel Messi was the La Liga Pichichi that year scoring 46 goals a year after his record setting 50 goal season in 2011-12. He was joined by David Villa, Alexis Sanchez, Cesc Fabregas and of course Xavi and Andres Iniesta on what became a historic side that has yet to be surpassed in the last decade and a half.

Five years later it was Barcelona blowing the competition out of the water, winning the league campaign by 14 points. That year it was Atletico Madrid that were the runners up. They had 93 points at the end of the season and Cholo Simeone’s team ended up with 79. This year Barcelona have a chance to tie or break the record depending on how they and Madrid finish the final three match days.

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