More Like THE Liga.

Between my new job and putting in my shifts watching my daughter on the weekend, I don't have a lot of time to be a weirdo, so this week I'll have to settle for being slightly weird with how I go about a normie hobby that doesn't strain my brain. 

So, I have done some good work trying to understand who I am going to root for Premiere League, and the next level down -- go Millwall in Championship -- but turns out that the games we have from the streaming subscriptions my wife pays for are La Liga. Well, got to figure out who to root for, then.  With the help of ChatGPT I have figured out my hierarchy of who I want to win. The criteria was working-class, anti-corporate identity.  So here is the hierarchy of who I root for, courtesy of Datum: 

Rooting Interest Ranking (based on your hierarchy)

GET – Getafe
→ Humble suburban Madrid club, scrappy identity, middle-table DNA.

ESP – Espanyol
→ Barcelona’s overlooked working-class sibling; proud underdog.

RAY – Rayo Vallecano
→ Pure barrio soul, politically charged fanbase. Not middle-table secure, but identity-rich.

ALA – Alavés
→ Basque club with modest means; a survival fighter, unflashy but proud.

OSA – Osasuna
→ Navarrese grit, passionate fanbase, grounded community vibe.

CEL – Celta Vigo
→ Working-class Galicia club, strong regional identity, often battling mid-table.

MLL – Mallorca
→ Small island club, often yo-yoing, underdog feel.

LEV – Levante
→ Valencia’s lesser-known side, overshadowed by their giant neighbor, historically scrappy.

ELC – Elche
→ Traditional yo-yo team, modest resources, underdog culture.

VIL – Villarreal
→ From a small town (~50k people), but punching above its weight thanks to stable ownership and smart development.

ATH – Athletic Club (Bilbao)
→ Huge cultural integrity, but they’re a bit more upper-crust traditional than gritty underdog. Still admirable.

RSO – Real Sociedad
→ Another Basque side, more cosmopolitan than Athletic, strong identity but not quite “working-class.”

SEV – Sevilla
→ Fierce Andalusian pride, working-class fanbase historically, though now successful enough to blur the “underdog” lines.

VAL – Valencia
→ Traditional big club, turbulent ownership. Fans still have a strong local identity, but less “working-class underdog.”

GIR – Girona
→ Fun project team, but owned by the City Football Group. That takes away some romance.

ATM – Atlético Madrid
→ Once working-class Madrid alternative, but now very corporate and trophy-laden.

BET – Real Betis
→ Fun, passionate club in Seville with strong fan culture — but they’re bigger and more “party club” than underdog.

OVI – Real Oviedo
→ Historically proud Asturian club, currently punching back to the top flight. Romantic, but less of a La Liga fixture lately.

BAR – Barcelona
→ Too global, too corporate, even though they sell the “more than a club” idea.

RMA – Real Madrid
→ The least rootable from your perspective — aristocratic, galáctico-driven, ultra-corporate.