La Liga Top Four Prediction, Odds and Picks 2022/23

• The La Liga 2022/23 season began on August 12 and will end on June 4
• The teams that finish in the top four will qualify for the Champions League
• Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla were last year’s top four

The La Liga 2022/23 season began on 12 August 2022 and will conclude on 4 June 2023. 

Each team in the division will play 38 games, with three points available for a win and one point for a tie. The four teams with the most points will qualify for next season’s edition of the Champions League. 

Real Madrid and Barcelona are, unsurprisingly, the favorites to finish in the top four, so much so that the best online sportsbooks are not currently offering odds on them doing so. You can read more about the leading contenders below.

La Liga 2022/23 Top Four Odds

The odds for the La Liga 2022/23 top four are provided by the FanDuel sportsbook.

Atletico Madrid are the favourites to finish in the top four alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona, the two contenders to win the La Liga title. Diego Simeone’s side have not been overly consistent so far this term, but they have the third-strongest squad in the division.

Real Sociedad are going strong under Imanol Alguacil. They have competed in European competitions in recent years and are now looking to secure Champions League soccer by finishing in the top four.

Villarreal and Real Betis are also expected to be in contention. The Yellow Submarine changed manager this season, with Quique Setien replacing Unai Emery, while Betis are coached by the veteran Manuel Pellegrini.

Athletic Bilbao will need a strong second half of the season to finish in the top four, while Osasuna, Rayo Vallecano and Real Mallorca are all outsiders.

What Happens to the Top Four Teams in La Liga?

The top four teams in La Liga automatically qualify for the group stage of the following season’s Champions League.

Participation in Europe’s foremost competition is taken for granted by Barcelona and Real Madrid, but it is a major prize for most other clubs in the division for reasons of prestige and finances.

In previous seasons, the top three teams in La Liga automatically reached the group stage of the Champions League, and the fourth-place finisher entered the qualifying phase.

That changed at the start of the 2017/18 campaign when UEFA handed more automatic qualification spots to Europe’s biggest leagues, including Spain’s top flight.

This was a controversial move in smaller parts of Europe. Indeed, some feel that the Champions League has grown too elitist, with half of the 32 places in the group phase going to teams from Spain, England, Italy and Germany. Others argue that the quota simply reflects where the strength of European soccer lies today.

Which Clubs Have the Most Finishes In La Liga Top Four?

(Last 30 seasons) Val 1 Sev -1

Real Madrid and Barcelona have finished in the top four in 29 of the last 30 La Liga seasons. Madrid missed out in 1995/96, a chaotic campaign in which they only managed a sixth-place finish – below Espanyol and Tenerife, among others.

Barcelona failed to finish in the top four in 2002/03, the final year of Joan Gaspart’s reign as president. The Blaugrana came sixth with only 56 points from 38 matches, which means they finished five points behind fourth-placed Celta Vigo.

Valencia have secured top-four finishes on 14 occasions, but Atletico Madrid will hope to have caught them up in the next few months.

Each of the clubs listed above have finished in the top four of La Liga at least three times since the 1992/93 season.