The key to Atlético de Madrid coming out league champions last season was their ability to score first.

This is the main conclusion drawn from statistical analysis carried out at the Centro de Investigaciones de Historia y Estadística del Fútbol Español (the Investigations Centre for the History and Statistics of Spanish Football), which pointed out the "crushing competitiveness" of the Madrilenian set-up last season.

According to this study, the ability to open up the scoreboard has proven to be decisive for the third year running in la Liga. Of the 380 games celebrated, only 86 ended up as a draw. Of the remaining 294, victory was for the team that scored first on 256 occasions, with only 38 occurring after making a comeback.

Moreover, if the games had been played under 'sudden death' ruling, whereby the match had been ended the moment the first goal was scored, Atlético would also have been proclaimed league champions, with 85 points, just ahead of Real Madrid (84) and Barcelona (78).

Atlético have been the masters of getting the ball in the back of the net first, as they were the season beforehand. In the 2012-13 season, they opened up the scoring 26 times, compared to 28 times last season.

Real have also been proficient at scoring the first goal, although they have been less effective than Atléti in keeping that goal advantage through to the referee's final whistle. Barcelona, meanwhile, have seen this first-goal ability fall slightly, compared to the previous season.