Segunda División B

Segunda División B is the third level of the Spanish football league system. It is administered by the RFEF. It is below the top two levels of the league, the Primera División (also known as La Liga) and the Segunda División, and above the Tercera División. The Segunda División B includes the reserve teams of several La Liga and Segunda División teams.

History

The term Segunda División B was first used in 1929. It was used to designate a third level of teams after the Primera División and a Segunda División A. This division featured 10 teams and at the end of the season Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa were crowned champions. However the 1929–30 season saw the first of many reorganisations of the Spanish football league system and the original Segunda División B was replaced by the Tercera División. At the start of the 1977–78 season the Segunda División B was revived, replacing the Tercera División as the third level. Initially the division consisted of only two groups. The 1986–87 season was played as a single group of 22 teams. It was changed the next year, with 80 teams in four groups from the 1987–88 season.

Lionel Messi

Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi]; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina national team. Often considered the best player in the world and rated by many in the sport as the greatest of all time, Messi is the only football player in history to win the FIFA Ballon d'Or five times, four of which he won consecutively, and the first player to win three European Golden Shoes. With Barcelona he has won seven La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles, as well as three Copa del Rey titles. A prolific goalscorer, Messi holds the records for most goals scored in La Liga (299), a La Liga season (50), a calendar year (91), a Champions League match (five), and most Champions League seasons (five).

Born and raised in central Argentina, Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a child. At age 13, he relocated to Spain to join Barcelona, who agreed to pay for his medical treatment. After a fast progression through Barcelona's youth academy, Messi made his competitive debut aged 17 in October 2004. Despite being injury-prone during his early career, he established himself as an integral player for the club within the next three years, finishing 2007 as a finalist for both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award, a feat he repeated the following year. His first uninterrupted campaign came in the 2008–09 season, during which he helped Barcelona achieve the first treble in Spanish football. At 22 years old, Messi won the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award by record voting margins.

LigaPro

The LigaPro (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈliɣɐˈpɾɔ]; English: ProLeague), also called Ledman LigaPro for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system, after the Primeira Liga. At the end of each season, the top-finishing teams are promoted to the Primeira Liga, and the lowest-ranked teams are relegated to the third-tier Campeonato de Portugal.

The LigaPro was founded in 1990 as the Segunda Divisão de Honra (Second Division of Honour), superseding the now-folded Segunda Divisão (Second Division) as the second tier of Portuguese football. When the division came under the auspices of the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) in 1999, it was renamed to Segunda Liga (Second League), a designation that was kept until 2016, with the exception of a period between 2005 and 2012, when it was known as Liga de Honra (League of Honour). The current branding and sponsorship were introduced during the 2015–16 season.

The division is contested nationwide by a total of 24 teams, including the reserve sides (B teams) of several top-flight clubs. This number will be reduced to 22 in the 2016–17 season, with a further reduction to 20 and 18 teams scheduled for the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons, respectively.

FC Barcelona B

Futbol Club Barcelona B is a Spanish football team based in Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia.

Founded in 1970 as FC Barcelona Atlètic, it is the reserve team of FC Barcelona, and currently plays in Segunda División B – Group 3, holding home matches at the Mini Estadi.

Reserve teams in Spain play in the same league system as the senior team, rather than in a reserve team league. They must play at least one level below their main side, however, so Barcelona B is ineligible for promotion to La Liga and cannot play in the Copa del Rey.

History

Espanya Industrial

Founded on 1 August 1934 as Societat Esportiva Industrial Espanya, the club was originally the sports team of the factory with the same name, and its shirt featured blue and white vertical stripes. The company was owned by the family of Josep Antoni de Albert, who was briefly president of FC Barcelona in 1943; during Albert's presidency the club, now known as Club Deportivo Espanya Industrial, became Barcelona's reserve team and began to play home games at Camp de Les Corts.

Segunda División

The Segunda División [seˈɣunda ðiβiˈsjon] (Second Division) of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (LFP), or the Liga Adelante[liɣa aðeˈlante] for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division overall in the Spanish football league system after the Liga BBVA.

History

League format

As of 2010-11 the league contains 22 teams that play each other home and away for a 42 match season. Each year three teams are promoted to La Liga. The top two teams earn an automatic promotion. The third team to be promoted is the winner of a play-off between the next four best qualified teams in positions 3 through 6 (reserve teams are not eligible for promotion). The play-offs comprise two-legged semi-finals followed by a two-legged final. The bottom four are relegated to Segunda División B.