LaLiga and Panini present the LaLiga Santander 2016/17 sticker collection

Panini and LaLiga presented the official new LaLiga Santander 2016/17 sticker collection on Wednesday morning. Fans of football and collectables can now enjoy the latest set of stickers covering the best league in the world. President Javier Tebas; Lluis Torrent, Panini's managing director; Fernando Sanz, LaLiga's managing director for MENA; and LaLiga ambassadors Carles Puyol and Fernando Morientes attended the event at LaLiga headquarters.

"Panini stickers are a classic collector's item and they're part of the furniture. They're very important to us because collectors, young and old alike, play a key role in LaLiga Santander being so closely followed. LaLiga is proud to collaborate with the company at the forefront of the sticker world," stated Tebas during the presentation.

.@Tebasjavier: "Panini stickers are a classic collectors item. Thank you for showing confidence in #LaLiga again." pic.twitter.com/gkBBwWSuIv

— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) September 7, 2016

After 45 years of publishing sticker collections year on year, Torrent declared, "It's a pleasure to be here alongside some players who were key faces in our sets for such a long time." Panini's managing director also spoke "very positively" about LaLiga's work on the new procedure for television rights distribution and the financial controls that have allowed clubs to improve their squads. "If LaLiga has got better, so has our collection," he added.

The other guests in attendance took a nostalgic look back at when they used to collect stickers of their idols. "Sticker albums are part of our youth and generate that excitement of wanting to be a footballer one day. I had the chance to share the dressing room with players whose stickers I had, like [Emilio] Butragueño and [Manuel] Sanchis," explained Sanz. It was a similar story for Morientes who would ask Albacete players to sign his stickers at the age of 15: "Who'd have guessed that I'd later share the dressing room with them?"

Puyol explained that it's a "dream come true when you get your sticker after you start playing in the top flight." The LaLiga ambassador also revealed that he was given a very special present by Panini after he hung up his boots: "They gave me a picture depicting my whole career in stickers. I was really thrilled and I'll show it to my daughters so that they can see what I used to do before they were born."

Puyol: "I am the proud owner of a set of stickers of my career that Panini gave me." #LaLigaAmbassadors pic.twitter.com/yOIgDQi2o2

— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) September 7, 2016

During the ceremony, some of the latest LaLiga Santander stickers were displayed and the guests gave their opinions on the players in question. Puyol waxed lyrical about former teammate Leo Messi and old foe Cristiano Ronaldo: "They're two phenomenal players, but Messi is the best ever. Cristiano isn't far behind because of everything he's won and the level he's performed at over the years." Morientes, meanwhile, gave his view on Antoine Griezmann: "He's at the top table now, alongside Cristiano and Messi. He's a pivotal figure for his team and his country, but while reaching that status is difficult, staying there for a long time is much more so."

To conclude the proceedings, the attendees posed for a group photo in which Tebas and Torrent showcased the 2016/17 album, while Sanz, Puyol and Morientes held up blown-up versions of their own stickers from when they were still plying their trade. Panini's managing director summed things up nicely by remarking that "the magic of stickers remains alive and kicking."