By Esper · Published · Updated
This map ranks all 20 La Liga teams of 2023–24 on the five style axes behind our FM26 tactic cards: pressing intensity, defensive line, tempo, width and build-up. The tables below show the teams at each end of every axis, the chart sets pressing against possession, and the full grid for all 20 teams is at the bottom.
What the five axes measure
- Pressing Intensity — Tackles won, interceptions and fouls, ranked twice and combined: once per game and once relative to the time spent without the ball, with the second ranking counted double.
- Defensive Line — Opponents caught offside per game. Teams that hold a higher line usually catch more.
- Tempo — Shots per game.
- Width — Crosses per game.
- Build-Up — Share of possession. The cards read more of the ball as a shorter build-up.
Every rank is within this league’s 20 teams for this season.
Pressing against possession
Sevilla: first for pressing and for width, 14th in the table
Sevilla ranked 1st for pressing (3rd per game, 5th adjusted) and 1st for width, with 24.6 crosses a game, 2.4 more than Athletic Bilbao in second. They were also level in 4th for tempo. They finished 14th with 41 points and changed manager during the season. Real Sociedad were 2nd for pressing and finished 6th with 60 points. Mallorca were 3rd, with the highest per-game count in the league, and finished 15th.
Real Madrid won with one of the lowest lines in the league
Real Madrid won with 95 points and led tempo with 15.6 shots a game. Their defensive line was 18th (1.0 opposition offsides a game), alongside Atlético Madrid (19th, 1.0), and only Mallorca were lower (0.9). Madrid were also 17th for width and level in 8th for pressing, on a per-game count that was 18th.
Barcelona finished 2nd with 85 points and ranked 1st for possession (64.3%), 2nd for tempo (15.5 shots a game) and 4th for line (3.1). Their pressing was 7th overall: 19th on the per-game count, 1st once time without the ball is counted. Girona finished 3rd with 81 points while ranking 20th on the per-game pressing count and 17th for line.
Las Palmas: highest line, Real Madrid's possession, 16th
Las Palmas had the highest line (opponents caught offside 4.3 times a game, ahead of Getafe on 3.7 and Osasuna on 3.3) and shared 2nd for possession with Real Madrid, both at 59.2%. They finished 16th with 40 points, last for width (15.3 crosses a game) and 19th for tempo.
Alavés pressed least and finished 10th
Alavés ranked last for pressing (17th per game, 20th adjusted) and last for possession (41.8%), and finished 10th with 46 points. Osasuna were 19th for pressing and finished 11th, and Granada were 18th and finished bottom with 21 points, level with Almería. Valencia ranked 20th for tempo (9.7 shots a game) and finished 9th.
Top and bottom three on each axis
Pressing Intensity
Tackles won, interceptions and fouls, ranked twice and combined: once per game and once relative to the time spent without the ball, with the second ranking counted double.
| Rank | Team | Per game · out of possession |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Sevilla | 3rd · 5th |
| 2nd | Real Sociedad | 8th · 3rd |
| 3rd | Mallorca | 1st · 7th |
| Rank | Team | Per game · out of possession |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | Alavés | 17th · 20th |
| 19th | Osasuna | 16th · 19th |
| 18th | Granada | 10th · 18th |
Defensive Line
Opponents caught offside per game. Teams that hold a higher line usually catch more.
| Rank | Team | Opp. offsides / game |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Las Palmas | 4.3 |
| 2nd | Getafe | 3.7 |
| 3rd | Osasuna | 3.3 |
| Rank | Team | Opp. offsides / game |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | Mallorca | 0.9 |
| 19th | Atlético Madrid | 1.0 |
| 18th | Real Madrid | 1.0 |
Tempo
Shots per game.
| Rank | Team | Shots / game |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Real Madrid | 15.6 |
| 2nd | Barcelona | 15.5 |
| 3rd | Real Betis | 12.9 |
| Rank | Team | Shots / game |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | Valencia | 9.7 |
| 19th | Las Palmas | 10.2 |
| 18th | Granada | 10.4 |
Width
Crosses per game.
| Rank | Team | Crosses / game |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Sevilla | 24.6 |
| 2nd | Athletic Bilbao | 22.2 |
| 3rd | Alavés | 21.8 |
| Rank | Team | Crosses / game |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | Las Palmas | 15.3 |
| 19th | Villarreal | 15.6 |
| 18th | Valencia | 15.6 |
Build-Up
Share of possession. The cards read more of the ball as a shorter build-up.
| Rank | Team | Possession |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Barcelona | 64.3% |
| =2nd | Las Palmas | 59.2% |
| =2nd | Real Madrid | 59.2% |
| Rank | Team | Possession |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | Alavés | 41.8% |
| 19th | Cádiz | 43.3% |
| 18th | Valencia | 44.3% |
All 20 teams
| Finish | Team | Pressing Intensity | Defensive Line | Tempo | Width | Build-Up | FM26 card |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st95 pts | Real Madrid | =8th | 18th | 1st | 17th | =2nd | Carlo Ancelotti |
| 2nd85 pts | Barcelona | 7th | 4th | 2nd | 14th | 1st | Xavi Hernández |
| 3rd81 pts | Girona | 14th | 17th | 7th | 8th | 4th | MíchelHand-researched card |
| 4th76 pts | Atlético Madrid | 17th | 19th | 8th | 16th | 6th | Diego Simeone |
| 5th68 pts | Athletic Bilbao | 11th | 8th | =11th | 2nd | 9th | Ernesto Valverde |
| 6th60 pts | Real Sociedad | 2nd | 7th | 13th | 10th | 5th | Imanol Alguacil |
| 7th57 pts | Real Betis | 6th | 6th | 3rd | 15th | 7th | Manuel Pellegrini |
| 8th53 pts | Villarreal † | 12th | 12th | 10th | 19th | 10th | Marcelino25 of 38 games |
| 9th49 pts | Valencia | 15th | 10th | 20th | 18th | 18th | Rubén Baraja |
| 10th46 pts | Alavés | 20th | 15th | =11th | 3rd | 20th | Luis García |
| 11th45 pts | Osasuna | 19th | 3rd | 15th | 4th | 12th | Jagoba Arrasate |
| 12th43 pts | Getafe | =8th | 2nd | 14th | 7th | 17th | José Bordalás |
| 13th41 pts | Celta Vigo † | 16th | 16th | 9th | 12th | 14th | Rafael Benítez28 of 38 games |
| 14th41 pts | Sevilla † | 1st | 11th | =4th | 1st | 8th | Quique Sánchez Flores22 of 38 games |
| 15th40 pts | Mallorca | 3rd | 20th | 16th | 6th | 16th | Javier Aguirre |
| 16th40 pts | Las Palmas | 5th | 1st | 19th | 20th | =2nd | García PimientaHand-researched card |
| 17th38 pts | Rayo Vallecano † | 4th | 9th | =4th | 9th | 11th | Francisco Rodríguez24 of 38 games |
| 18th33 pts | Cádiz † | =8th | 14th | 17th | 5th | 19th | Sergio González21 of 38 games |
| 19th21 pts | Almería † | 13th | 13th | 6th | 13th | 13th | Gaizka Garitano19 of 38 games |
| 20th21 pts | Granada † | 18th | 5th | 18th | 11th | 15th | — |
† Changed manager during the season. The figures are the team’s whole season, so they mix more than one manager’s games; the card is filed under one of them, with the number of games that manager took. Teams without a card (—) are kept as a team record only, usually because no manager was in charge for most of the season.
Notes and sources
- Teams level on a stat share a place, shown as =2nd. Las Palmas and Real Madrid share 2nd for build-up.
- Figures are rounded to one decimal place, while ranks use the unrounded figures. Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid both show 1.0 opposition offsides a game but rank 18th and 19th.
- † marks a team that changed manager during the season: Villarreal, Sevilla, Celta Vigo, Rayo Vallecano, Cádiz, Almería and Granada. Their figures cover the whole season, so they mix more than one manager's games. Granada have no FM26 card because no single manager had enough games.
- Girona and Las Palmas link to a hand-researched card instead. Its five axes show the same ranks as this report, but the rest of the card was researched and written separately and describes the manager’s approach in its own words, so it may not line up with every number here.
Source: FBref (Sports Reference) team season statistics for La Liga 2023–24, 20 teams. Ranks calculated on 14 October 2026.
- How the five axes are calculated (methodology)
- Browse all FM26 tactic cards
- More league style reports
- Girona 2023–24 FM26 card — Míchel (hand-researched)
- Las Palmas 2023–24 FM26 card — García Pimienta (hand-researched)
- Sevilla 2023–24 FM26 card — Quique Sánchez Flores
- Real Madrid 2023–24 FM26 card — Carlo Ancelotti
- Barcelona 2023–24 FM26 card — Xavi Hernández
- La Liga 2024–25 Style Map: Barcelona Led Three Axes, and None of the Top Three Pressed the Most
- Earlier season: 2022–23 report
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