What was the last La Liga season played with 22 teams?
Answer
1996-97
The last La Liga season played with 22 teams was 1996–97.
That season featured 22 clubs and ran from August 31, 1996, to June 23, 1997. The league played 462 matches, with each team meeting every other club twice. Real Madrid won the title, finishing ahead of Barcelona.
The 22-team format ended because the league was reduced to 20 clubs for 1997–98. Five teams were relegated after the 1996–97 campaign: Rayo Vallecano through the relegation play-off, plus Extremadura, Sevilla, Hércules and Logroñés. This is why some season summaries describe 1996–97 as an unusually long and crowded La Liga campaign.
A common mix-up is 1995–96, which also had 22 teams. However, that was the penultimate season under the format, not the final one. The change also means 1996–97 had 42 league matches per club rather than the 38-match schedule used after the reduction to 20 teams.