#4 Real Madrid
Spain’s top-flight women’s league, the Primera Division de la Liga de Futbol Femenino, continues to grow in popularity. With strong television coverage, a title sponsor and a host of top clubs from the men’s game showing support for the league, its reach will only increase.
The top three positions in the 2016-17 season were occupied by Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. It could almost be a rundown of the upper reaches of the men’s league were it not for one significant absence: Real Madrid.
The most successful team in the men’s game have shown little inclination to compete professionally in the women’s league. Club president Florentino Perez suggested in an October radio interview that they intend to set up a youth training facility for female footballers but a more meaningful investment in the women’s game still seems some way off.