How to buy LaLiga tickets – 2024/25 guide

Here’s a look at how to buy LaLiga tickets during the 2024/25 season. We’ll feature all 20 clubs in the Spanish top flight and explain the best way to buy LaLiga tickets and answer questions that visitors looking to experience football in Spain typically have.

In most cases, it is not difficult to buy tickets via the official channels which essentially means going to the home team’s website and purchasing online. However it does vary from club to club and there are some factors which make planning football trips in Spain more challenging than is the case in other European countries. We’ll also go into more detail on that.

How to buy tickets for LaLiga matches online

Buying tickets via the clubs

*Espanyol, Leganes and Real Valladolid were in the Segunda Division last season.

While club members have priority and can often use advanced sales windows, the majority of LaLiga fixtures do reach general sale. The home team for each fixture is responsible for selling tickets which can be purchased online via the ticketing pages on the official club websites which are listed above. Most, but not all clubs, have English language options.

You can usually just download tickets to your phone after purchase and show your mobile ticket on entry to the stadium. However each club has their own policy so check your confirmation email to see if you are required to print it out.

Each club also has its own policy when it comes to sales dates. Some only release tickets to the general public in the week of the match. Others do so once the kick-off date and time has been confirmed – typically around a month in advance. Meanwhile, a few clubs allow you to buy tickets further in advance, before the fixture has been designated a confirmed day and kick-off time.

Rayo Vallecano are the only club in LaLiga not to sell tickets online. This baffling stance is made worse by their small ticket office which can lead to long queues for tickets on match days and given the stadium’s small capacity, games do sometimes sell out. If you’re already in Madrid, it’s advisable to pop down to the Estadio Vallecas (take the metro to Portazgo) a day or two before the game to buy your tickets. Details of ticket office opening times should be announced on their website.

Anyone hoping to catch FC Barcelona play should be aware that Camp Nou is currently being redeveloped and will not be ready until at some point in the 2024/25 season – current estimates suggest it’ll be late 2024. Until then, Barcelona will play their home games at the city’s old Olympic Stadium on Montjuic Hill overlooking the centre of the Catalan capital. The stadium has around 54,000 seats, although attendances will be capped at just under 50,000 for FC Barcelona games.

Many local fans stayed away last season from the unpopular venue, so Barca tickets were not hard to find. That may change when the club moves back to Camp Nou which is expected to initially operate on a reduced capacity while construction work is completed.

Buying LaLiga tickets in advance

One problem for anyone planning football related trips in Spain can be how late tickets go on sale, leaving visitors with a nervous wait before they can secure their seat. While most LaLiga matches do not sell out, many get close to full capacity which can make it tough for a larger group to get good seats together.

That’s particularly true for big matches, local derbies and important end-of-season games which sometimes don’t reach general sale, or do so with only very limited availability.

Buying Real Madrid tickets via the club was also often a really difficult task in the second half of the 2023/24 season with demand likely to be high again following the high profile summer addition of Kylian Mbappe. If you’re concerned about missing out on tickets, but don’t want to fork out on the expensive hospitality (VIP) offerings which are often sold further in advance, you do have options.

For the “big three” clubs of Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, you can use sportsbreaks.com, who are an official provider of LaLiga football breaks, to purchase tickets in advance. Their packages usually include a hotel room and a guaranteed match ticket in a good area of the stadium with optional extras such as stadium tours that you can add on.

Tickets can also sometimes be found in advance on resale websites, although typically at inflated rates and any purchases there are done at your own risk. Buying tickets via the official club channels or their official ticketing partners is advisable.

Buying advance tickets is not without its own risks though, certainly if you’re only visiting Spain for a short break of a couple of nights. The problem is that LaLiga kick-off dates and times are not usually confirmed until around a month before each match.

Most LaLiga fixtures are initially scheduled for a Sunday, but in reality, during a regular weekend matchday, they could take place at any point between Friday and Monday. While the bigger clubs are rarely scheduled to play on Friday or Monday, this is something to be aware of when booking your travel and accommodation.

LaLiga club locations – 2024/25 season

It’s a good year to be a football fan visiting Madrid with no fewer than five top flight clubs in the Spanish capital this season. Real, Atleti and Rayo are all based in the city while Leganes and Getafe are in the South Madrid commuter belt, but easily reached via fast cercanias trains from the heart of Madrid.

Espanyol return to boost the Catalan contingent to three. There are also three clubs in the Basque Country (four if you include Osasuna), two in Seville and two in the Valencian region. Real Valladolid and Celta Vigo are the other mainland clubs while you can catch LaLiga football in the Canary and Balearic Islands with Las Palmas and Mallorca respectively.

How much does a LaLiga ticket cost?

While season tickets in Spain are quite good value compared to England for example, individual match tickets can be quite expensive, particularly for the bigger games, with smaller clubs raising their prices significantly whenever the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid visit.

Some clubs (we’re talking about you Getafe) stubbornly refuse to offer genuine discounts for even the least glamorous fixtures that won’t sell out, with matchday tickets always seemingly starting at €40 at the Coliseum which is far from one of Spain’s most inspiring places to watch football.

The average starting LaLiga ticket price is perhaps in the €30-50 range these days for adults, with discounts for children and seniors. You can find some tickets for under €30 at clubs such as Rayo Vallecano but you can expect to pay at least €50 for Barcelona or Real Madrid home games.

Prices also shoot upwards for big Champions League matches or huge league games. You’ll need to pay much more for El Clasico tickets for example (and that’s subject to availability) while the Seville derby is another game where you may need to pay over €100 to secure a seat.

How to buy LaLiga tickets – FAQs

When do LaLiga tickets go on sale?

Regular LaLiga match tickets usually go on sale anywhere between a few days and several weeks before a game. This depends on the club. If tickets for your match of interest are not on sale yet, keep checking the home team’s official website.

Note that even after tickets go on general sale, new tickets can sometimes become available in the days leading up to a match as club members release their seats. This is very common practice in Spain so don’t despair if you can’t initially find tickets.

When are LaLiga fixture dates and times confirmed?

Regular LaLiga weekend matchdays usually involve 10 games with staggered kick-off times with one on Friday night, four on Saturday, four on Sunday and one on Monday night. In other words, no two games should overlap with 14:00, 16:15, 18:30 and 21:00 the usual start times for Saturday and Sunday matches (fixtures in August and May often don’t follow this schedule though).

LaLiga typically confirms the times/dates for a matchday around a month in advance. You can check their calendar to see which ones currently have confirmed kick-offs. Those that don’t will usually be set to Sunday by default, although it’s really important for anyone planning a football trip in Spain to understand that those games could be moved to Friday, Saturday or Monday. Midweek gameweeks (matchdays 3, 7, 33 and 36 in LaLiga 2024/25) normally run from Tuesday to Thursday.

Typically, less glamorous fixtures are often reserved for the Friday and Monday slots and you can often make an educated guess as to the day of the game when clubs have European or cup fixtures scheduled around the matchday. For example, if Real Madrid are playing in the Champions League the following Tuesday, their league fixture can only take place on the Friday or Saturday as all teams are always allowed two free days between matches.

Once games are allocated a kick-off time, they should not be moved. However there are rare exceptions in the case of extremely hot weather (usually only applies to August, September or May games). There can also be some further disruption when the Copa del Rey is on in January and February with cup draws potentially pushing league games back or forwards a day.

On the final two matchdays, much less advanced notice is given with the schedule more irregular. That’s because clubs competing with each other at the top or bottom of the table usually play at the same time.

Is it easy to get LaLiga tickets?

Generally speaking, it is usually very possible to buy tickets for LaLiga matches as a visitor to the country. Relatively few matches are total sell-outs and even for the very biggest matches such as the Madrid derby and El Clasico, tickets do sometimes go on general sale, although that’s not guaranteed.

Exceptions can come in the final weeks of the season if a team is pushing for a title or fighting relegation when clubs sometimes reserve tickets for members only. There are also a few teams with really small stadiums such as Girona, Rayo Vallecano and Leganes where you may have a harder time securing a ticket, certainly for the more glamourous fixtures.

Of the “big three” clubs, Real Madrid tickets were the most difficult to buy in the 2023/24 season and members did snap up all the seats for some games, leaving visitors to the city disappointed. We have ticketing guides with specific advice for each of those clubs here:

Real Madrid ticketing guide | Barcelona ticketing guide | Atletico Madrid ticketing guide

What about Segunda Division, lower league and women’s matches?

The same advice generally applies to the Spanish second tier and clubs further down the pyramid. You should be able to buy Segunda Division tickets online or on the day of the game at the stadium with matches rarely selling out, although there may be exceptions in the cases of big derbies or clubs with very small stadiums.

Liga F is the female equivalent of LaLiga. Female teams play at smaller stadiums than their male counterparts with relatively low attendances the norm, meaning it shouldn’t be too difficult to secure tickets online (via the official club websites) or on matchday at the stadium.

What’s the best website to buy LaLiga tickets?

The relatively easy availability of LaLiga tickets at most clubs means it’s rarely worth risking third party websites that will usually sell tickets at inflated prices. Just visit the home team’s website and if tickets for the match of interest aren’t on sale yet, be patient and keep checking.

If catching some football is a major or primary reason for your trip to Spain and you really don’t want to chance it on the general sale, consider using an official partner like sportsbreaks.com to book a package trip including accommodation and guaranteed match tickets in advance.

Can you buy tickets at the stadium on the day of the game?

Yes, you can normally buy tickets at the stadium on the day of the game too, subject to availability. You can expect a queue and should not necessarily expect club staff to speak English, although exceptions are likely to be found at Barcelona and perhaps Real Madrid. The cheapest tickets are also likely to have sold out by that point so you may end up paying more.

It’s generally much simpler to buy tickets online and download tickets to your mobile with most clubs having English language websites.

There can be cases where certain foreign debit/credit cards are refused when trying to make online purchases. If that happens, try different cards if possible and if all fails, try to buy tickets from the club’s ticket office or at other sales points within the city such as official stores, when you arrive.

Do you need an ID to buy tickets and enter stadiums?

When purchasing tickets online, you may be asked to enter your DNI or NIE. Unless you are Spanish or living in Spain, enter your passport number in the DNI field.

While many clubs state that identity documents are also required to enter stadiums, in practice you are highly unlikely to be asked to show this at the gates. A match ticket should suffice.

Are there stadium tours and club museums in Spain?

Many clubs also offer stadium tours or have small museums which can be worth a visit.

If you’re visiting Barcelona, remember that matches are not currently taking place at Camp Nou and stadium tours are also not running as a result of redevelopment work. The club’s museum is still open though and they are also running match day tours of the Estadi Olimpic. However, it’s fair to say there are far more impressive sports stadiums, so you may prefer to wait for Barca to move back to their true home.

Extensive redevelopment work at the Santiago Bernabeu has also taken place over the past few years, but the stadium is now looking good with tours running as normal, starting at €35 and including a trip to the club museum.

Of the other options, Athletic Club’s museum and stadium tour is particularly recommended for a fascinating insight into a truly unique club and football in the Basque Country.